BJP's VV Rajesh is Thiruvananthapuram Mayor, faces first major CPM offensive

The election for the Thiruvananthapuram mayor threw up no surprise. BJP's V V Rajesh won with the expected number of 51 votes. After the independent councillor from Pattoor ward, Pattoor Radhakrishnan, promised support following lengthy negotiations, the BJP was assured of the simple majority of 51 in a 101-member Council. Though it was the single largest party, the BJP-led Front was shy of a simple majority by one vote.

Nonetheless, the day of the Mayor's swearing-in gave a glimpse of what is in store for the first BJP-led Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. Just before the voting began, CPM Pettah councillor S P Deepak said that 20 BJP councillors should not be allowed to vote as they had violated the rules governing the taking of oath.

Under the Municipality Act, a councillor has to swear "in the name of God" or "solemnly affirm" that he/she would bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India. CPM Councillor Deepak's case is that these 20 BJP councillors had violated this Constitutional stipulation by specifying religious symbols. "Such attempts to smuggle religion into politics is a threat to democracy and Constitutional values," Deepak, who is also the CPM's parliamentary party leader in the Corporation, said. In his four-page complaint, Deepak said this oath-taking violation should be probed and their swearing-in should be declared invalid.

On December 21, when the councillors were sworn in, many BJP councillors instead of "in the name of God" had taken oath in the name of their preferred deities, some in the names of more than one Gods. BJP's Karyavattom councillor S S Sandhya Rani, for instance, took oath in the name of two Hindu Gods: Karyavattom Ayyappa Swami and Kamukinkode Durga Bhagavathy.

Manacaud's BJP councillor P Saritha took oath in the name of Sree Padmanabha Swamy. Sreekanteshwaram councillor O Sukanya took oath in the name of the presiding deity of her ward: Sreekanteshwaran. Ditto with Attukal's BJP councillor S Shruthi. She took the oath in the name of Attukal Devi.

Cheruvaikal councillor Vinod R and the 'deputy mayor'-designate Asha Nath (Karumam) had taken oath in the name of 'Bharathamba'. District collector Anu Kumari rejected the appeal saying the complaint should have been registered before the oath taking ceremony was complete. She said it was futile to raise such an objection after the councillors took oath, signed forms and attended the first council meeting. They have already become Corporation members, the collector said. Even so, the Collector said that the issue could be taken to the court. She then went ahead with the voting.

The NDA's candidate V V Rajesh secured the expected number. The LDF's mayor candidate R P Sivaji, too, secured the Front's expected number: 29. However, two Congress votes (Nanthencode councillor K R Cleetus and Venganur councillor S Kathika) were declared invalid. Poundukadavu councillor Sudheesh Kumar, who contested as Congress rebel, abstained from voting.

Though the CPM put the new BJP-led Council in a spot of bother by raising the oath-taking issue, the first file Mayor V V Rajesh put his signature on signalled continuity. It was the sanction for Rs 50 lakh for the extension of Vayomithram project to more wards, and the file was cleared by the former LDF-led Council led by Arya Rajendran. As it stands, the project has been implemented only in 55 wards.

The new Mayor said that in five years Thiruvananthapuram Corporation would be transformed into the three most developed cities in the country.