Over 1,900 Kudumbashree workers in the fray in Ernakulam

Kothamangalam, Angamaly and Vazhakulam have most number of Mission candidates

Over 1,900 Kudumbashree Mission workers in Ernakulam are contesting the local body elections this time.

The women force continues to remain the most sought after group when political parties zero in on candidates for election to the Kochi Corporation, Ernakulam district panchayat and panchayats. “There are wards in which more than three-fourth of the executive committee of community development societies is facing the election. Thirty-one chairpersons of the community development societies in Ernakulam are contesting,” said Renjini Sukumaran, district mission coordinator of Kudumbashree.

As per the data compiled by the Mission, 1,158 of the total 1,918 candidates are members of neighbourhood groups. Besides chairpersons of the community development societies, the candidates include vice chairpersons of the societies, chairpersons and members of the area development societies, and president, secretary and executive committee members of the neighbourhood groups.

Seventeen vice chairpersons of the community development societies and 143 executive committee members of the societies are in the fray. As many as 100 executive committee members of the area development societies are also contesting in various wards.

Kothamangalam, Angamaly and Vazhakulam are the regions having the maximum representation of Kudumbashree workers. In Kothamangalam, 172 Kudumbashree members are in the fray while the corresponding figure in Angamaly and Vazhakulam is 173 and 172.

Kavalangad has 25 Kudumbashree members contesting in various wards. The situation is no different in Angamaly municipality, where 27 members of the neighbourhood groups and secretaries of the area development societies are trying their luck. In Malayatoor panchayat, 22 Kudumbashree workers are in the fray. Nearly 120 women belonging to the Mission are candidates in various areas under Palluruthy. The representation in Kumbalangi alone is 19.

C.N. Mohanan, district secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said the increasing participation of Kudumbashree workers in the local body elections was a recognition of their contributions to society. “They have good grassroots-level connections. It is also a sign of the responsibilities and tasks that women can undertake in our civic bodies,” he said.