Kannur: The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) had often posted comfortable wins in Arakkal division of the Kannur Municipal Corporation, even as the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and the INL remain in the fray in the Muslim-dominated ward.
This time, the IUML fielded sitting councillor K M Sabira ‘Teacher’. Yet, on a day when the UDF retained control of the Kannur City Corporation and went on to win three more city corporations across Kerala, Sabira suffered an upset defeat in Arakkal. She lost to SDPI’s Samira K by 54 votes.
Sabira polled 1,589 votes, and Samira polled 1,643 votes. But what raised eyebrows is that the CPM’s ally, the Indian National League (INL), managed only 364. In 2020, INL polled 921 votes.
Whispers before the elections were strong that the CPM had struck an understanding with the SDPI — a front organisation linked to the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) — to cut down the IUML seats in Kannur Corporation.
The SDPI was also expected to win Kasanakotta division. That plan failed. The IUML retained Kasanakotta by a margin of 87 votes. The SDPI finished second, while the LDF’s CPI candidate came third with just 341 votes.
Former Kannur mayor and senior Congress leader T O Mohanan alleged that the CPM played both sides — using the BJP to weaken the Congress and the SDPI to cut down the IUML– hoping to seize control of the corporation in the event of a hung verdict.
He said the arrangement helped the BJP increase its tally from one seat in 2020 to four this time, calling the strategy dangerous for Kerala’s secular fabric.
In 2020, the BJP had won only Pallikkunnu division. This time, it retained Pallikkunnu (4) and went on to win Temple (48) and Thulicheri (11) from the Congress, and Kokkenpara (5) from the CPM.
Mohanan alleged that the CPM helped the BJP win Temple division in return for the BJP’s support in South Bazaar. BJP candidate Archana Vandichal registered a comfortable victory in Temple. But Mohanan pointed out that the CPM’s vote count there dropped sharply — from 280 in 2020 to just 89 this time.
After delimitation, South Bazaar had been showing UDF leanings. The LDF fielded E Beena, wife of a CPM area secretary. She won with a margin of 47 votes. Mohanan sees the BJP’s hand in that narrow win.
Despite what he called the CPM’s Machiavellian plan to wrest control of the only corporation the UDF had won in 2020, the UDF emerged stronger.
In the 56-ward corporation, the Congress and IUML together won 36 wards, up from 34 in 2020. The UDF wrested eight wards from the CPM-led LDF, while losing three to the LDF and two to the BJP. The LDF was reduced to 15 seats, down from 19 last time.
The UDF not only fought the LDF and the BJP, but also dealt with rebels across wards. None made an impact.
In Adikadalai division (38), a CPI stronghold, the Congress fielded KPCC member and party spokesperson Rijil Chandran Makkutty. In 2015, the CPI had won the ward by 383 votes, securing nearly 50 per cent of the votes. In 2020, it won again with a 325-vote margin.
This time, an IUML rebel also entered the fray. The IUML expelled him immediately.
When the results were declared, Makkutty won by a massive margin of 720 votes. The rebel, Mubashir T K, came third with just 223 votes.
In Varam division, which the IUML negotiated hard with UDF ally Congress, the party fielded its deputy mayor candidate, K P Thahir. He won comfortably, despite facing an IUML rebel who was pushed to the margins.
In Payyambalam division, Congress mayor candidate and sitting councillor P Indira won with a margin of 49 votes against BJP’s Aparna Purushothaman. She too faced a Congress rebel, K N Bindu, who managed only 62 votes. BJP was widely expected to win in Payyambalam.
The LDF managed to retain Kunnavu (Division no. 2) by a single vote.
The fiercest battle, however, was in Kottali division (8), a CPM bastion. Congress candidate Ushakumari K wrested the ward by just four votes. But the ward saw a textbook three-cornered fight — the UDF polled 783 votes, the CPM’s Vidya Sanath got 779, while the BJP followed close behind with 746 votes.
For the BJP, the wins were comfortable in Pallikkunnu, neighbouring Kokkenpara, and Temple division. In Thulicheri, however, BJP candidate Majesh A K edged past the Congress by a slender margin of 33 votes.
Despite the victory, the Congress remains wary of the CPM’s election tactics.
“In the long run, the CPM will pay a heavy price. If CPM voters are pushed to vote for the BJP in local body elections, there is no guarantee they will return for the Assembly polls,” Mohanan warned.
