Kannur: CPM Kannur district secretary K K Ragesh is facing turbulence in his home panchayat of Munderi, where a combination of voter anger, internal dissent and one invalid vote handed the UDF an unexpected victory after four decades.

In the election to the panchayat president’s post, both the UDF and the LDF were evenly placed with 11 members each in the 22-member board, raising expectations of a draw of lots. Instead, CPM’s Mowanchery ward member Sunil Kumar T K cast an invalid vote, tipping the scales in favour of IUML’s Raseena C K, who won 11-10, defeating CPM nominee Shammi Komban of Nallanchi ward (No. 17).

The invalid vote stood out all the more because Sunil Kumar was elected from a CPM bastion with 61% vote share.

The upset loss followed visible disquiet among CPM supporters during the panchayat election itself. In 2020, the LDF had a comfortable majority of 13 members against the UDF’s seven in the 20-member board. This time, despite the expansion to 22 wards, the CPM slid to 11.

Among the high-profile defeats was that of incumbent panchayat president Anisha A, who lost from Parothumchal -- long considered a party stronghold. She lost to IUML’s P Ashraf. Parothumchal is also K K Ragesh’s home ward. The UDF won the ward for the first time in 57 years, said Chandini E K (68), a Congress panchayat member in the outgoing board.

Within the LDF camp, there was resentment over the party projecting Anisha for a second term as president. She is Ragesh’s sister-in-law. The UDF alleged that the presidency, which alternates between general and women-reserved categories every five years, should have been a general post this time. “Since 2000, that has been the pattern. But we suspect intervention from Thiruvananthapuram to retain it as a women-reserved post so that Anisha could become president for a second term,” said a Congress grassroots leader. Anisha’s defeat, however, derailed that plan.

Congress state committee member Rijil Makkutty said the backlash was written on the wall. “The comrades decided to put Ragesh in his place. That showed in the panchayat election and now again in the president’s election,” said Makkutty, now a councillor in the Kannur corporation. The defeat of the incumbent president and invalid vote today, he said, amounted to a revolt against attempts to reinstall Ragesh’s brother’s wife as president. “He couldn’t even ensure victory in his own home ward,” Makkutty added, taking a swipe at Ragesh’s position in the party, and calling for introspection.

The Congress and the Muslim League are celebrating what they describe as a historic result. “We are winning Munderi after more than 40 years,” said Chandini of the Congress. “We took down CPM bastion.”

In 2020, the UDF had won seven wards -- four Congress and three IUML. This time, the IUML secured six and the Congress five. The front retained all seven wards it had won last time; won Puravoor, a newly created ward, and also wrested Padanot, Parothumchal and Ayyapanmala from the LDF.

The LDF scraped to 11 only by winning Kanhirode Centre, the second new ward carved out in the panchayat. The CPM leadership, however, played down the invalid vote. “We trained all the members yesterday. Yet... (it happened.) It was a mistake,” said Pankajakshan A, CPM leader and vice-president of the outgoing board. He attributed Anisha’s defeat in Parothumchal to the influence of Jamaat-e-Islami. The CPM, led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, had gone all out against the socio-religious organisation.

Yet, in 2020, when the ward was reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates, CPM’s Leeshma V K won there by a margin of 114 votes against the IUML. “This time, we were fighting not just the Muslim League but also Jamaat-e-Islami. They have around 25 families in Parothumchal, with strong roots there and in Kanhirode. They treated this election as a prestige battle to defeat the CPM,” he said, an explanation that also raises uncomfortable questions about political alignments in the previous years.