The Congress-ruled Sreekandapuram Municipality in Kannur has landed in a controversy after approving Rs 50,000 for the LDF government's 'Nava Kerala Sadas'.
The decision was in violation of the UDF leadership's instruction to not fund the event, alleging it was a political campaign. Following the intervention of the District Congress Committee (DCC), a special council meeting has been proposed to annul the decision.
Municipal Vice Chairman K Sivadasan said the decision was taken at a council meeting on Friday. “At that time, we did not get any instruction from UDF leadership to not allocate funds for the event. Hence, the council passed the agenda while one Congress councillor registered opposition. The instruction from UDF leadership came only on Saturday,” Sivadasan said.
The matter related to the fund allocation was one of the eight supplementary agendas discussed at the meeting.
“Even though some councillors wanted the agenda to be postponed, we could not postpone a single item on the list. So we passed the it considering the technicality.
“We don't want to defy UDF leadership. We will examine the possibility of cancelling the decision by calling a special council meeting soon,” Sivadasan said.
The state government had directed all cooperative societies and local bodies to contribute to the Nava Kerala Sadas.
On Saturday, the leader of the opposition, VD Satheesan said local bodies ruled by the UDF will not provide funds for the event. He alleged that the government was collecting funds from panchayats without distributing maintenance grants.
