CPM Leader, Arya Rajendran | Photo credit: Twitter
Thiruvananthapuram: Arya Rajendran, 21, who has successfully contested recent civic polls, is likely to become the next mayor of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala.
Rajendran won the Mudavanmugal district elections with 2,872 votes, 549 more than the rival candidate for Congress. She is a second-year undergraduate at All Saint’s College in town. The district secretary of the city’s Marxist party recommended his name for the position during a meeting. If approved, she will become the youngest mayor in the country.
Arya, who has been a great CPM worker since her childhood, is currently the state president of ‘Balasanghom’, backed by CPM, which is considered the world’s largest children’s organization. He is also a member of the state committee of SFI Kerala.
The secretary of state will make the announcements on five of the six corporations in total by Saturday, sources told the PTI news agency. When contacted by the media about the recommendation, she said the party will make the right decision and that no one other than reporters had informed her.
Thiruvananthapuram Mayor K Sreekumar (CPI-M) had suffered a shocking defeat at the polls.
Kerala Local Body Surveys
Kerala’s left-led ruling coalition scored a major victory in recently concluded local body polls, seen by all parties as a litmus test ahead of next year’s state assembly elections.
“Thank you Kerala. Thank you for placing your faith in LDF. We are honored by the trust and confidence of the people of Kerala. This is a victory for secularism and inclusive development. My warm greetings to all elected representatives,” he had Prime Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a tweet.
The LDF has won 514 of the 941 gram panchayats, 10 of the 14 district panchayats and 108 of the 152 block panchayats. The UDF, on the other hand, finished first in 375 gram panchayats, 44 block panchayats and four district panchayats. The NDA, led by the BJP, won 23 gram panchayats.
In reaction to the triumph, BJP deputy KJ Alphons investigated the UDF and said that the opposition alliance led by Congress had collapsed in most of the state. Alphons said Congress has neither leadership nor ideology.
