Thrissur Mayor-Suresh Gopi comradeship, too bitter a pill for LDF to swallow

Thrissur Mayor M K Varghese's comradeship with BJP's union minister Suresh Gopi has opened fissures in the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the district. While the CPI has openly called for Varghese's resignation, the CPM remains tight-lipped.

Considering it was CPI's V S Sunil Kumar, who suffered the ignominy of being on the losing side when the BJP secured its maiden Lok Sabha seat from Thrissur recently, it wasn't surprising to see the party's district secretary K K Valsaraj pull no punches on Monday. "A Mayor backed by the LDF cannot promote BJP's politics because he is a fan of Suresh Gopi. CPI objects to that. He repeatedly claims he supports the politics of the Left front. If that is the case, he must step down and allow a Left member to take up the position," Valsaraj told mediapersons.

But CPM district secretary M M Varghese has refused to accept the CPI's opinion as that of the Left front. "That is the CPI's opinion. The matter will be discussed within the LDF. Whether M K Varghese will continue as Mayor is a matter to be decided by the LDF," said M M Varghese.

Mayor can't praise Gopi enough
Thrissur Mayor first courted trouble in April in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls when he declared that NDA candidate Suresh Gopi was fit to be an MP. "It is not easy for everyone to become an MP, one needs a lot of qualities for that. We have seen that qualities in him," Varghese said. Later, he tried to make amends by declaring that all he did was say Suresh Gopi had done some good things in Thrissur.

Post-results, Varghese reportedly met with Suresh Gopi in a hotel. And when the Left sought an explanation, he said it was just a meeting between the Mayor and the MP regarding the development of Thrissur. If two transgressions weren't enough, Varghese came up with another during a public function at Ayyanthole, where he shared the dais with the MP.

Varghese praised Gopi's commitment to Thrissur and declared "people sent him to the Parliament with high hopes". He thanked the MP for upgrading the Ayyanthole Primary Health Centre to a wellness centre under the Centre's Ayushman Bharat Yojana. Gopi too showered praises on the Mayor, crediting him for implementing welfare projects for the people of Thrissur. He said the Mayor had discussed other development projects with him before the elections.

Varghese, the trump card
Despite repeatedly siding with the rival party's poster boy, the reason the LDF hasn't been able to force out Varghese from the Mayor's chair is down to simple maths. If Varghese, a former Congressman, returns to the UDF fold, the LDF will lose power in the Thrissur Corporation.

In the 55-member corporation, the LDF has a majority of a single seat. The Congress-led UDF has 24 seats, the CPM-led LDF has just one better, and the BJP has six members. The LDF rules the Thrissur Corporation with the support of five independents, one of whom is Varghese. A condition the LDF placed before Varghese while elevating him to the Mayor's chair on December 7, 2020, was that he would give way for a CPM or CPI member after two years. But Varghese has yet to relinquish the post.