The BJP secured control of seven of the eight standing committees in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation after elections were held for the post of committee chairmen in the civic body on Wednesday. Elections were held for six of the eight standing committees. The Deputy Mayor heads the Standing Committee on Finance, while elections to the Tax Appeals Committee could not be held because of the need to fill two vacancies that had been reported to the State Election Commission (SEC). From the BJP, Nemom Ward Councilor MRGopan will head the Health Standing Committee, while Karamana Ward Councilor Karamana Ajith will head the Development Standing Committee. Vellar Ward Councilor V. Sathyavathi will head the Social Welfare Standing Committee and Kaladi Ward Councilor GSManju will head the Public Works Standing Committee. Mannanthala Chempazhanthy Udayan ward councilor will be headed by the standing committee on education and sports. As the BJP fell short of a simple majority of 51 in the 101-member council, it had to refer the standing committee for town planning to independent councilor Pattoor Radhakrishnan, who had won from Kannammoola ward, to get his support. United Democratic Front (UDF) councilors stayed out of the standing committee elections even as Left Democratic Front (LDF) councilors unsuccessfully vied for the posts. In last week’s standing committee elections, the LDF’s strategy was to gain control of at least the relatively minor standing committee on tax appeals, where more LDF councilors nominated their names to the committee. To counter this, the BJP has also nominated more councilors to this committee, reducing the required quorum in several other committees. On the appointed election day of January 7, only three of the eight standing committees could be formed because some committees did not have enough representatives. Realizing that its strategy could open up chances for the LDF and UDF to gain control in at least one of the major standing committees, the BJP made two of its councilors resign from the Tax Appeals Committee and file nominations for the Health and Public Works Standing Committees. This left two vacancies in the Tax Appeals Committee.
Published – 14 Jan 2026 20:24 IST
