UDF on the brink in Pala as Congress and Independents lock horns

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Just six months after wresting control of the Pala municipality, the United Democratic Front (UDF) finds its fledgling administration staring at a full blown internal crisis, with an escalating confrontation between the Congress and Independent councillors.

The latest flashpoint is a theft complaint lodged by municipal chairperson Diya Pulikkakandam against Congress councillor Biju Mathews. In her complaint, the chairperson has accused Mr. Mathews of stealing her wristwatch and an official file during an altercation the other day. The complaint comes close on the heels of Mr. Mathews approaching the police alleging physical assaulted by councillor Binu Pulikkakandam, the chairperson’s father.

The episode assumes significance because the UDF itself enjoys only a slender numerical advantage in the 26-member council. The front has 10 members, comprising six from the Congress, three from Kerala Congress (Joseph) and one from Kerala Democratic Party (KDP). It was only with the support of the three-member independents’ collective and a Congress rebel that the UDF has managed to wrest power in the civic body.

Despite this, relations between the Congress and the Independents have remained uneasy from the very beginning. During negotiations to form the administration, the Independents had demanded both the chairperson and vice-chairperson posts for the first two and a half years. The standoff was eventually resolved on an intervention at the KPCC level with Ms. Diya being accommodated as chairperson for the first half of the term while Congress rebel Maya Rahul was made vice-chairperson for six months.

Under that agreement, the six-month tenure of the vice-chairperson ends on June 26, after which the post is expected to be handed over to Mr. Pulikkakandam. The approaching deadline, however, has only intensified political tensions within the ruling front.

The infighting has also begun to affect the functioning of the municipality itself, with the council reportedly unable to convene b