The chairperson’s post in Koothattukulam seems almost cursed, as no one has ever completed a full five-year term. In fact, during the two terms spanning 10 years since it was elevated to a municipality, Koothattukulam has had six different chairpersons, including two in the just-concluded term.
In 2015, neither the United Democratic Front (UDF) nor the Left Democratic Front (LDF) secured a decisive majority, which meant that the two Congress rebels who won as Independents effectively held sway. The UDF managed to stay in power for the first three-and-a-half years, while the LDF governed for the remainder as both Independents swung between the two sides. The UDF lost control after one of its leaders defected and one of the Independents, Roy Abraham, switched allegiance to the LDF, which promptly made him chairperson. Incidentally, Mr. Abraham is now a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporter, though the party is yet to open its account in the municipality.
The LDF wrested power in 2020 with 13 members in the 25-member council, while the UDF won 11 seats and one Independent also won. The CPI(M)’s Vijaya Sivan enjoyed a relatively smooth sail as chairperson until party councillor Kala Raju revolted, sending a letter to the party’s State secretary in October last year accusing the local leadership of “abandoning her in her hour of need.” She alleged that Sunny Kuriakose, the incumbent municipal vice-chairperson and CPI(M) area committee member, had forced her to “undersell” her house and property to clear debts with the Koothattukulam Farmers Service Cooperative Bank Ltd., where he served as president, just a month after her husband’s death during the pandemic in 2021.
‘Abduction’ charge
In a dramatic turn of events, Ms. Raju was allegedly abducted by her party colleagues to prevent her from voting in favour of a no-confidence motion moved by the UDF on January 18, 2025. The Koothattukulam police seized the official vehicle of the chairperson on charges that it was used in the abduction, and booked around 40 party activists, including the chairperson and vice-chairperson.
Seven months later in August, the UDF succeeded in dislodging the LDF through another no-confidence motion, as Ms. Raju defected to its camp and the sole Independent, P.G. Sunilkumar, also voted in favour. Subsequently, they were appointed chairperson and vice-chairperson.
Seat-sharing deals
After this rather unenviable sequence of events, all three fronts are now busy finalising their candidates for the forthcoming election. The municipality now has 26 wards following delimitation. In the UDF, the Congress is set to contest 22 seats, while the Kerala Congress (Jacob) and Kerala Congress will contest three and one seat respectively.
In the LDF, CPI(M) will contest 18 seats, CPI six, and the Kerala Congress (M) and NCP one seat each. Within the National Democratic Alliance, the BJP has so far decided to contest 19 seats, while one seat has been allotted to the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena.
Published – November 17, 2025 09:40 am IST
