Uncertainty over Kerala civic poll schedule

The schedule of the local bodies elections in Kerala has come under a shadow of uncertainty with the State Election Commission and the Government adopting different positions on the matter.The Election Commission wants the polls to be held in October itself on the basis of the 2010 ward structure in the context of a High Court order quashing the formation of new panchayats. The Government wants it to be held as per the new ward structure based on the delimitation process which the court has found to be faulty.

The State Government on Tuesday decided to file an appeal against the High Court single-judge Bench’s order on Wednesday itself. After a meeting between the Government and the Election Commission on Tuesday evening, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the Government was confident that the election could be held in October itself.

At the meeting, the Election Commission stuck to its position that the polls should be held on the basis of the old ward structure in the present situation. Another round of discussions between the Government and the poll panel will be held after 15 days. “We are certain that new councils in the local bodies can come into being by November 1,” Chandy told newsmen.

The High Court had on Monday nullified the formation of 69 new panchayats citing violation of the concerned Sections of the Panchayati Raj Act and procedural lapses. As per the law, a revenue village should be kept in its entirety in the one panchayat in which it falls and cannot be split between two local bodies. The court pointed out that this norm had been violated.

With the High Court scrapping the creation of the new panchayats, the only way to ensure completion of civic polls in a time-bound manner, according to the Election Commission, was to hold it on the basis of the ward structure that existed in 2010 because the delimitation process could now take a minimum of three months to be completed.

Though the Congress and some other constituents of the UDF were prepared to accept this proposal, the front’s second biggest partner, Muslim league, whose leader MK Muneer holds the local Administration portfolio, was firm that the civic polls should be held on the basis of the new ward structure.

The Muslim league held an emergency leadership meeting on Tuesday morning and reportedly decided to remain firm in its position that the polls should be held as per the new ward structure even at the risk of causing a delay in the election. The party also wanted the Government to challenge the High Court’s Monday order through an appeal.

The Muslim league, which was allegedly behind the splitting of the existing panchayats in an unscientific manner with the single-point agenda of creating local bodies where a particular community formed the major vote-bank, argued that panchayat elections had been delayed in Kerala in the past also.

Top Muslim league leader PK Kunhalikutty, State Industries Minister, said there was indeed scope for filing an appeal against Monday’s High Court order. Claiming that the court had not found any problem in the delimitation process as such, he argued the division of wards was carried out by in compliance with the norms and on the basis of census findings.

Advocate General KP Dandapani, whom the High Court had recently criticized for his alleged lapses in handling Government cases, on Tuesday advised the Government that there was no legal obstacle to filing an appeal against Monday’s court order. There were rumours that the Government had carried out the erroneous ward division process on the basis of his advice.The teachers and students pointed out that Krishnamurthy’s appointment as Vice-Chancellor was not made in compliance with the relevant legal requirement.     

The Vice-Chancellor was not available for comments. But Prof S Pannirselvame, Registrar-in-charge denied all allegations against the Vice-Chancellor and other officials of the university. “The cases pertaining to the curriculum vitae and appointment of the Vice-Chancellor are pending before the Madras High Court. We in the university are awaiting the verdict of the court,” Pannirselvame said in a release on Tuesday.

He also pointed out that the present agitation by the students had been launched by an unrecognised association violating all norms prescribed in the university guidelines. Prof Periyasamy Thilakan, head, Green Energy Centre, said the students and a section of the faculty launched the agitation immediately after a decision by the Vice-Chancellor to order an inquiry into the irregularities worth Rs 300 crore in connection with construction of  buildings in the university. “Someone in some departments wants the inquiry to be derailed. There is massive corruption in the purchase of scientific equipment worth Rs 25 crore to various departments,” said Prof Thilakan.

He also called for a thorough probe into the appointments made to the teaching and non-teaching posts during the last ten years. “A lot of skeletons would come out of the cupboards if such a probe is held. Some of the teaching staff do not have prescribed qualifications,” he said. Another official said that most of the agitators belong to Kerala and are SFI activists.

Incidentally, Krishnamurthy’s birthday too falls on August 15. If the students succeed in having their way, the Vice-Chancellor may have to spend the Independence Day at the official bungalow and cut the birth-day cake with close family friends.