Congress smells a rat in CPM's delimitation move in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: A move by the CPM government in Kerala to increase the number of local body wards by around 1,200 more has triggered concerns in the Congress camps.

A meeting of the state cabinet on Monday was learnt to have decided to promulgate an ordinance in this regard. Since the model code of conduct is still in place an official announcement is yet to be announced.

Congress are concerned that the delimitation move being initiated just one year ahead of the local body polls could be aimed at re-fixing boundaries of local body wards in such a manner that the CPM and other left-parties could win maximum number of seats.

Opposition leader V D Satheesan of the Congress warned that any mischievous move by the government in the delimitation would be dealt with legally. He also criticised that the Left-front government did not hold any discussion before taking the decision to go for delimitation.

The plan is to add one more ward to all the 1,200 odd local bodies across the state. At present there are around 21,900 wards in corporations, municipalities, district panchayats, block panchayats and grama panchayats in Kerala.

The CPM and other left parties had lost their dominance in many local bodies. The Congress also suffered major setbacks in many local bodies, including Thiruvananthapuram corporation, where it was pushed to the third place in the last two elections. The BJP, on the other hand, had surged forward in the 2020 and 2015 elections at many of the local bodies.