The United Democratic Front on Monday managed to retain control of the Vaikom Municipality with its candidate, Radhika Shyam, being elected as the municipal chairperson by a margin of one vote.
In an election held at the municipal council, Ms. Shyam received 11 votes as against 10 votes received by Susheela M. Nair, a candidate fielded by the Left Democratic Front. The BJP candidate, O. Mohanakumari, got just four votes.
Of the two independent members in the council, A.C. Maniyamma voted in favour of the LDF while Ayyappan abstained from voting.
In the 26-member council, the UDF has 11 members as against nine for the LDF. The BJP has four members while the remaining two are independent.
With the UDF and LDF differing by a margin of just one vote in the first round, another round of election was held after excluding the candidate receiving the least number of votes. The result, however, remained the same and the UDF candidate was declared the winner.
The new chairperson replaces Renuka Ratheesh, who stepped down from the post recently in line with a power-sharing agreement within the ruling coalition.
