The BJP's eagerness to lead all important standing committees and the CPM's retaliatory move to snatch more than one in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation have led to an unprecedented situation on Wednesday. Elections to five of the eight standing committees have been put off to January 9.

Welfare, Town Planning and Tax Appeal are the three standing committees that have been formed. The remaining five committees - Finance, Development, Health, Public Works, Education-Sports - did not have enough numbers for the returning officer to lock them into place. 

Some committees were short by three members and some by one. For instance the Finance Standing Committee needs 13 members. But only 11 councillors filed nominations to be part of the committee. In total, six members belonging to both the BJP and the CPM had not nominated themselves into any of these five standing committees.

Clearly, these members had queued up to get elected in the Town Planning and Tax Appeal committees and had lost in the elections. The Welfare Standing Committee, which requires 13 members, was formed without an election as only 13 councillors - belonging to all the three major fronts - gave their names to be included in the committee. The BJP has a majority in the committee, which will come in handy when the Welfare Standing Committee chairman is elected. The other two committees, which requires 12 members each, had more councillors than the required number vying for entry and, therefore, elections were necessitated.

All the 101 councillors take part in the elections to standing committees and the votes are cast on a preferential basis. The councillors are asked to assign their preferences to each of the candidates contesting to join a standing committee. 

The candidates who get the higher number of 'first preference' votes will be declared elected. But if the number is not enough to fill the committee, the 'second preference' votes would be counted, and so on, until the requisite number of councillors are filled.

In the Town Planning Standing Committee, the BJP has a majority, ensuring that its chosen councillor will bag the chairman's post. Former DGP R Sreelekha's gaffe, therefore, will not matter. The BJP's Sasthamangalam councillor failed to give her name and signature on the blank side of the ballot on which she had made her preferences for Town Planning Standing Committee and so her preferences were declared invalid.

However, the Tax Appeal Standing Committee now has an equal number of BJP and LDF members. Here, there was a shocker. Senior CPM leader and Punnackamugal councillor Sivaji R P's vote was called invalid. Like Sreelekha, Sivaji too failed to give the obligatory name and signature on the other side of the ballot.

Senior CPM councillors Onmanorama talked to expressed surprise and anger at Sivaji's 'mistake'. Now that there is a tie, the chairman will be decided by a lot. Referring to this, BJP leaders described Sreelekha’s error as an omission and said there was no need to read further meaning into it, pointing out that an experienced CPM councillor had committed the same mistake.

The members who had lost in the two elections held on Wednesday are the ones that have possibly been left out. Since a councillor has to be mandatorily part of a standing committee, these 'unsuccessful' councillors will now have to file nominations to any of the five unformed standing committees.

Significantly, even the Finance Standing Committee, considered the most important, was not filled. This suggested an aggression on the part of the CPM. With just 29 members, it had no chance of securing any major standing committee.  Their only strategy was to trouble the BJP.­

The original understanding was that the CPM would field four if its councillors for the Finance Standing Committee but eventually only two LDF councillors filed their nominations to the Finance Standing Committee. Anticipating that the CPM could make a lunge for either Tax Appeal or Town Planning by sending more members there, the BJP lined up more councillors than were necessary to compete for these two committees. 

There was a thinking in the BJP that it would allow the CPM to take over the Tax Appeal Committee, considered the least important. But the rivalry was so intense that it did not want the CPM to head even tax Appeal. Such an impulsive behaviour can cost the party dear.

The BJP is the single largest party with 50 councillors and with the help of Kannamoola's independent councillor, Pattoor Radhakrishnan, it has achieved simple majority. But 51 is not a millionaire's purse that the BJP can fearlessly gamble with.  

It means that it has only six members to spare on an average for each of these eight standing committees. The original plan was to deploy seven members each to seven standing committees except Tax Appeal. The CPM has managed to upset this plan.

So if the BJP has already send more than seven or eight to three standing committees that have been formed on Wednesday, the party will have to satisfy with four or even three councillors for the other five standing committees.

Since a preferential voting system is adopted for standing committees, the LDF and the UDF can together carry greater strength in more than one standing committee, and these can perhaps include the critical Finance Standing Committee. The coming Friday might throw up surprises.

Meanwhile, the BJP has structured the composition in a way that secures chairperson posts in most standing committees. Karamana councillor Ajith is likely to head the Development Standing Committee, while M R Gopan from the Nemom ward is expected to chair the Health Standing Committee. Chempazhanthy councillor Udayan, representing the Mannanthala ward, is likely to lead the Education-Sports Standing Committee.

Independent councillor Patoor Radhakrishnan, elected from the Kannammoola ward, is expected to become the chairperson of the Town Planning Standing Committee with BJP support. Kalady ward councillor G S Manju is likely to head the Public Works Standing Committee, while V Sathyavathi, councillor from the Vellar ward, is set to chair the Welfare Standing Committee. Nedumcaud ward councillor R C Beena is expected to lead the Tax Appeal Committee.