BSP gets panchayat president's post in Kerala for first time

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For the first time in Kerala, a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) nominee became the president of a gram panchayat, garnering the support of the Congress-led UDF.

In the election held yesterday, BSP councillor Bindu Biju was elected president of Koruthodu panchayat in Kottayam district, securing eight votes beating LDF nominee T V Seethamma, who got only four votes.

The president's post in the panchayat is reserved for Scheduled Caste women and UDF had no option but to support Bindu Biju as both the Congress and Kerala Congress-M had no councillor from the SC community.

The election was necessitated after the disqualification of Vijayamma Raju, who was holding the post after defecting from LDF to UDF. Vijayamma, who won with LDF support, had switched sides and joined UDF to become panchayat president, but was subsequently disqualified by the Election Commission.

In the 12-member panchayat body, UDF has seven members, CPI-M four, besides the BSP member.

Bindu Biju said she would focus on implementing more schemes for the welfare of the SC community.