The Congress on Thursday released its final list of 22 candidates for the Kochi Corporation elections, withholding notification for two constituencies — Cheralaya and Ravipuram.
Announcing the list, District Congress Committee (DCC) President Muhammed Shiyas termed the decision to leave out only two of the 64 contested by the party as a “surprise”. However, the names of BJP dissident and six-time councilor Shyamala S. Prabhu and former Congress mayor Soumini Jain were doing the rounds for Cheralaya and Ravipuram wards. He added that all the 62 Congress candidates would be formally introduced by Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan at the DCC office on Friday evening.
VK Minimol, a long-serving councillor, whose absence was conspicuous in the first list of 40 candidates released earlier this week, has now been fielded from the newly demarcated Palarivattom, general ward. Incumbent councilor from Vaduthala West, Henry Austin, will contest again from the same ward.
Mr Shiyas said the decision to field four women candidates over the mandatory 38 of the 76 wards in the corporation reflects the party’s commitment to increase women’s participation in decision-making, especially as the post of mayor remains reserved for women. However, Malini Kurup, a three-time councilor from Girinagar ward, was disqualified to her disappointment.
The Congress was originally expected to contest in 65 constituencies, but has now allotted Konam, a general constituency, to the constituent United Democratic Front (UDF) Communist-Marxist Party. When asked about the reported discontent in the Youth Congress over the perceived judgmentalism of its members in the selection of candidates, Mr. Shiyas said that a balanced mix of youth and experience had been selected. “There are more than 2,000 local body wards in Ernakulam district. Only after candidates are announced in all these wards, one can form views on youth representation and not just by looking at the 76 wards in Kochi Corporation,” he said.
Mr. Shiyas reiterated that the outgoing LDF management committee only completed major projects started by previous UDF councils and failed to initiate any major infrastructure projects of its own using state government funds. He further claimed that the LDF was able to complete many of these projects only because it refrained from disrupting the work with unnecessary protests.
Published – 14 Nov 2025 02:10 IST
