UDF deadlock in Kannur Corporation ends as Congress yields to IUML, gives up Varam, takes Valiyannur

Kannur:
After weeks of brinkmanship, the Congress broke the deadlock with the IUML in Kannur Municipal Corporation, clearing the way for the UDF to announce its list of candidates. On Monday, the Congress named nominees in 38 of the corporation’s 56 divisions. The IUML will contest the remaining divisions.

The breakthrough came after the Congress agreed to part with the Varam division, a long-running point of friction, and settled for Valiyannur, which the IUML held last time. The Congress has fielded K Suma in Valiyannur, now reserved for Scheduled Caste women.

Varam, traditionally a League stronghold, was handed to the Congress during the corporation’s formation in 2015 because it was then reserved for the Scheduled Tribe. When the seat became general in 2020, the Congress retained it, much to the IUML’s resentment.
This time, the League’s patience snapped, and it boycotted all UDF seat-sharing talks across Kannur district. It also revived a letter written by the late DCC president Satheeshan Pacheni, promising Varam to the IUML in the 2025 election. That letter became the leverage that eventually forced Congress to yield.

The Congress has also secured Kanhira, the new division created after delimitation.

Names that will give LDF a fight
The Congress’s list features a few interesting names. Rijil Chandran Makkutty, KPCC member and former state vice-president of the Youth Congress, will contest from Adikadalayi (No. 38), an LDF bastion the Congress failed to crack in 2015 and 2020.

In 2015, the CPI cornered 50% of the vote share and defeated the Congress by 383 votes. In 2020, the CPI secured 45% and won by 325 votes. “Rijil has been fielded to wrest the seat from the LDF. The Congress had some internal problems there,” said former mayor Adv T O Mohanan.

Ajith Parakkandi, member of the Kerala football team that lifted the Santosh Trophy in 1992-1993 and a retired Keltron employee, will contest from Thalikkavu division (No. 54). In a battle of sports personalities, he squares off against the LDF’s O K Vineesh, president of the Kerala Fencing Association, and former vice-president of the Kerala Sports Council and former president of the Kannur District Sports Council.

The CPM narrowly held Thalikkavu in 2020 by 67 votes. In 2015, the Congress had won it by 423 votes.
Deputy mayor Adv P Indira will seek re-election, this time from Payyambalam. Mahila Congress district president Sreeja Madathil is fielded in Mundayad. Jawahar Bar Manch district chairperson Adv Lisha Deepak will contest from Thayethru. All three are Congress-held divisions.
Kannur remains the UDF’s lone municipal corporation in Kerala.

A standoff that froze the UDF
The seat-sharing feud had paralysed UDF negotiations across Kannur district for days. The IUML refused to attend talks in municipalities, block panchayats and grama panchayats until the corporation issue was settled.
The League had demanded Varam, Vethilappali and Adikadalayi divisions. The Congress resisted, accusing the IUML of inflating its demands to force a compromise on Varam, where the League wanted to field its district vice-president, K P Thahir.

Old wounds also resurfaced. The IUML has not forgotten 2020, when the Congress refused to rotate the mayorship despite an earlier agreement, forcing the League to boycott corporation events for months.

Though the two allies have now buried their differences, they face another storm in the form of former deputy mayor P K Ragesh, a serial Congress rebel. He has announced plans to field candidates in at least 15 divisions, a move that could fracture the UDF vote and give the LDF an edge. “We are ignoring him. We expelled him from the party two and a half years ago,” said Adv Mohanan, a member of the outgoing council.