KPCC settles Mattathur panchayat row; vice president Noorjahan Navas to resign today

Thrissur: The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) has reached a compromise to address the controversy in which 8 ward members allied with the BJP to wrest power in the Mattathur grama panchayat in Thrissur district on December 27. Two had contested as rebel candidates after being denied party tickets.

As part of the compromise, Noorjahan Navas, who became vice president of the panchayat with BJP support, will resign from her post on Saturday. The decision was taken during talks held on Friday between KPCC president Sunny Joseph and leaders of the rebel faction.

The rebels’ key demand was that independent candidate Tessy Jose Kallarackal, who was elected panchayat president with their support, should not be forced to step down. The KPCC accepted this demand and agreed to resolve the issue by asking the vice president to resign instead. Tessy secured 12 votes—eight from former Congress members and three of the four BJP members—while one BJP vote was declared invalid.

It has been learned that the KPCC has decided to reinstate the rebel members to the party after they publicly admitted their mistake. Akshay Santhosh from Ward 23 submitted a letter to DCC president Joseph Tajet stating that he resigned following instructions from DCC general secretary T M Chandran. In the letter, Akshay said that as a first-time panchayat member, he had committed a lapse and assured the leadership that he would abide by all party decisions. He also said he was willing to resign from his panchayat membership if required.

Akshay had earlier publicly opposed efforts by rebel leaders and panchayat members to seek BJP support. An audio clip later surfaced in which Chandran was allegedly heard urging Akshay to stand with the group. Akshay is also heard saying that he would not support the move unless the president elected with BJP backing resigned. It was after the audio recording became public that Akshay submitted the letter to the DCC president.

An inquiry will be conducted into the allegations raised by the rebel leaders, including complaints against the local District Congress Committee (DCC) leadership. The KPCC has assured that it will examine whether there were lapses at the district level. The decision was finalised after consultations between the KPCC president, the Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leaders, who agreed that the issue should be settled before the Chintan Shibir scheduled to be held in Wayanad ahead of the Assembly elections.