Arya Rajendran was sworn in as Mayor of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation on Monday, making her the youngest person for the post. The 21-year-old belonging to the CPI(M) was elected councillor from Mudavanmugal. Arya, who is a B.Sc. second year student at the All Saints College, told the media that she will continue with her studies along with handling the responsibilities as the city Mayor. PK Raju of the Communist Party of India (CPI) was sworn in as the Deputy Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.
In Kollam, Prassanna Earnest of the CPI(M) was sworn in as the Mayor. This is her second stint as the Mayor of Kollam. After the swearing-in ceremony she told the media that her ambition is to make Kollam the state's best city Corporation.
Advocate M Anil Kumar of the CPI(M) was sworn in as the Mayor of Ernakulam Corporation, which can be considered as the richest Corporation of the state. The Left Front wrested the Corporation from the United Democratic Front (UDF), and issues such as stagnant water after rains, congested roads, waste deployment will be a major challenge for the new Mayor.
In Thrissur, Left Democratic Front (LDF)) sprang a surprise by swearing in the rebel Congress leader VK Varghese as the Mayor. Varghese, who was an army officer, was with the Congress after his retirement and when the party did not consider him for the seat, he contested independently and won. Varghese will be Mayor for a two-year tenure and then a CPI(M) leader will take over for the remaining three years.
In Kozhikode, retired teacher Beena Philip of the CPI(M) was sworn in as Mayor. She told media persons that she wanted to develop Kozhikode into a world class city and added that she will work in unison with all cutting across party lines to achieve this goal.
In Kannur, the lone corporation where Congress got the Mayor post, party leader TO Mohanan was sworn in as the Mayor. Mohanan said that he will strive to make Kannur, the handloom capital of the country. It may be noted that Kannur has the maximum number of weavers and major exports in the sector are taking place.
However in Palakkad and Pandalam municipalities which were won by the BJP, there was disagreement over the leadership and it was only at the last minute that an understanding was reached. After the intervention of senior leaders, K Priya was chosen the chairperson of Palakkad and Suseela Santhosh in Pandalam.
(With IANS input)