UDF supporters celebrate the victory of party candidates in local elections in Kochi on December 13. Photo credit: H. VIBHU
Notwithstanding the presence of several potential mayoral candidates who emerged in the United Democratic Front’s landslide victory in the Kochi Corporation, the Congress ideally prefers a single term for its mayoral candidate for the entire tenure of the council, as opposed to the split terms it has tried in the past in various local bodies to satisfy various groups and allies.
The split-term experiment has not exactly gone smoothly and has often been acrimonious for the UDF in general and the Congress in particular, be it in the case of mayors, village and gram panchayat chairmen or even standing committee chairmen. For example, the division of the tenure of the chairperson of the racing standing committee in the last corporation council between Sunitha Dixon of RSP, a UDF ally, and Congress leaders VK Minimol and Seena Teacher resulted in an election petition against Ms Dixon, after which she eventually resigned.
“Our priority will be a single term mayor for the entire term of the council, unless there is a disagreement in the parliamentary party or pressure from the leadership. A split term is often fraught with problems,” said a senior Congress official.
But that is easier said than done considering that at least three potential mayoral candidates have returned to the polls — Deepthy Mary Varghese, who won from Stadium division, VK Minimol from Palarivattom and Shiny Mathew from Fort Kochi division. While Ms. Varghese, a second-term councilor, remained an oft-mentioned name as a likely mayor even before the election, she and the party have tried to play down the speculation throughout.
This is the fourth term as councilor for Ms Minimol, who also served as chairperson of the standing committee on health when the UDF was in power from 2015 to 2020. Shiny Mathew, also a long-serving councillor, is also no slouch and was a strong mayoral contender in 2015 before the party settled on Soumini Jain. A section of the party is also of the view that Ms Mathew should become mayor to win over voters in West Kochi, where the party’s victory was not as pronounced as in the city.
Congress will still decide on the date of the meeting of the parliamentary party to select a candidate for mayor. The election of mayors and chairmen will be held on December 26.
Published – 16 Dec 2025 23:41 IST
