In a dramatic move, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) on Wednesday captured power in the Ramapuram grama panchayat with Shyni Santosh, president of the United Democratic Front (UDF)-led council who switched sides to the rival front, once again being elected as its president.
In an election held at the panchayat, Ms. Santosh received eight votes against the seven votes polled by Lisamma Mathachan of the Kerala Congress (KC), a candidate fielded by the UDF. BJP candidate Reji Jayan received just three votes and was excluded from the second round of voting.
The LDF took advantage of the raging feud within the UDF, which often took the local body to the verge of administrative paralysis, to capture it. Ms. Santosh, during her tenure as president of the UDF-led council, had faced stiff opposition from its vice president, a KC member.
Later in the day, Sunny Porunnakottu of the KC was elected new vice president of the local body.
The victory, meanwhile, has come as a major boost to the LDF which recently lost the vice president post to the UDF in the neighbouring Bharanganam grama panchayat.
