The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has made their presence felt in the state of Kerala after one of their members was elected to the post of panchayat president in Peerumedu in the state’s Idukki district. The elections which were held after the United Democratic Front (UDF) submitted a no confidence motion against the sitting CPI(M) president, saw S Praveena of the AIADMK come out victorious. Praveena became the president by replacing Rajani Vinod of the CPI(M).
As per a report by Mathrubhumi, it was the UDF which was heading the local body administration after it came to power by winning the panchayat elections. However about seven months ago, two of the UDF members shifted to the LDF camp giving the latter a majority in the local body, thus allowing the LDF under Rajani Vinod to take over.
The total number of members in the local administration is 17 but the Election Commission disqualified the two members who had shifted camps from the UDF to LDF after which the number of members in the local administration came down to 15 in which the LDF had 7 members, the UDF had 7 members and the AIADMK had one member.
When the UDF went for a no confidence motion against the LDF’s panchayat president, an election was called for the post of a president which is reserved for a woman member of the Scheduled Caste (SC). With the Congress having no woman member from SC, the UDF selected Praveena from the AIADMK, which was a constituent of the UDF in Kerala.
As per reports, Praveena is the first AIADMK to become a panchayat member in Kerala. However, AIADMK had won in six wards in three panchayats during a local body election held in 2015.