Anil Kumar likely to be Kochi Mayor, Ansiya Deputy Mayor

Kochi: M Anil Kumar of the CPM is likely to be the Mayor of the Kochi Corporation. The CPM district committee that will meet on Sunday will finalise Anil Kumar's candidature. This would be followed by the official announcement.

Anil Kumar is the councillor of Elamakkara North. The Mayor election will be held on Monday.

K A Ansiya of the CPI is likely to be the Deputy Mayor candidate. The decision to give the Deputy Mayor post to the CPI was taken during a meeting between CPM district secretary C N Mohanan and CPI district secretary P Raju. The CPI has also demanded one chairperson post of a standing committee.

CPI district secretary P Raju said that there was no dispute between the CPM and CPI over sharing the posts. The CPI will have the Deputy Mayor post for the whole five-year term.

In the 74-member council, the LDF, which has 34 members, staked claim for the corporation with the support of two UDF rebel councillors. Muslim League rebel T K Ashraf and Congress rebel J Sanilmon have announced their support for the LDF. The UDF, which has 31 members, was able to ensure the backing of only one independent candidate.

Antony Painuthara (Elamkulam) and Malini Kurup (Girinagar) are likely to be the UDF candidates for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor posts, respectively. The final decision will be taken on Sunday. Senior BJP councillor Sudha Dileep Kumar (Ernakulam central) is the NDA candidate for the Mayor post. And Priya Prasanth (Amaravathi) will contest for the Deputy Mayor post. The decision was taken during the parliamentary party meet on December 24. The NDA will not back the UDF or the LDF for the Mayor election.

Election on Monday

The Mayor election will be held at 11am on Monday, while the election to choose the Deputy Mayor will be held at 2pm. The Collector is the returning officer.

The election will be held through open ballot. The members, taking part in the election, have to put down their name and signature on the back of the ballot paper.

If more than two candidates are contesting, then the candidate who has secured more number of votes than the combined votes of other candidates will be declared as the winner. Otherwise, another round of election would be held by omitting the candidate with the least number of votes. If there are only two candidates, the person with the most number of votes will win.

After the results are announced, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor will be administered the oath by the Collector and then assume charge.