Alappuzha: The bypoll to Ward 13 of Ramankary Panchayat will take place on July 30. According to sources, UDF holds the edge over LDF in the upcoming election.

“There is a general wave of discontent against the ruling LDF all over the state, which is visible in Ramankary as well,” said a member of the panchayat. He added that a dirty game played by a section of CPM members necessitated this bypoll.

It was in May last that the LDF lost power in Ramankary Panchayat for the first time in over two decades after a section of the CPM members moved against the then president R Rajendra Kumar of the same party. After moving a non-confidence motion against him, these ‘rebel’ members supported the UDF candidate. Thus, LDF lost its majority in the 13-member local body.

This was widely seen as a reflection of the internal rift within the Alappuzha district CPM faction. The defeated R Rajendra Kumar then resigned as a member of the panchayat necessitating the upcoming bypoll.

“A father and son duo is standing as candidates for the UDF and LDF respectively. This is for the third time, this UDF candidate is contesting the election after tasting defeat twice. Last time, he was supposed to win, but a section of voters from the UDF camp cross-voted in favour of the LDF candidate. It is assumed that the LDF will return that favour this time and help him win. His son, who is the CPM candidate, is a new face in the local body election,” the member said.

Other than UDF and LDF, BJP and SUCI are fielding candidates in the election making it a four-way fight. All the candidates except that of the BJP belong to the Christian community. The BJP is fielding a candidate from the Ezhava community.
There are over 800 registered voters in Ramankary, of which around 680 are expected to cast their votes.