Kozhikode: The political flux in the UDF, and the Congress in particular, was reflected in Kozhikode's Feroke Municipality when independent member, Kamaru Laila, snatched the chairperson's seat from Muslim League's P Rubeena with the backing of the LDF on Wednesday. As a result, the Muslim League has lost the only municipality in Kozhikode that was in its control. The voting was necessitated in the wake of the no-confidence motion moved by the LDF in the 38-member municipality.
What tilted the scales in Laila's favour was the surprise move of two Congress councillors - K. Moideen Koya and KT Shalini - to back her. Kamaru Laila won 21 votes and her rival Rubeena, the incumbent chairperson, managed just 16. Rubeena had won the chairperson's election in September 2017 by a margin of just one vote.
Then, the dissenting Congress members, who voted against Rubeena on Wednesday, were mollified by district and state-level leaders. Among the demands the dissenters had put forth in 2017 was the replacement of party colleague Muhammed Hassan from the post of deputy chairman of the municipality. Now, in an apparent nod to his help in ousting the IUML candidate, Koya has won the post of the deputy chairman of the municipality.
The lone BJP councillor, Shijith P, abstained from voting.