Kerala local body polls: ‘Prakashan couple’ in electoral contest at Kochi Corporation

K.J. Prakashan and Mary Calista Prakashan, husband and wife, have in the past campaigned for each other during local body polls when one of them contested.

This time, however, neither can fully rely on the other’s support, as both are contesting. They are perhaps the only couple contesting in the Kochi Corporation – Mr. Prakashan from Mundamveli East as a CPI(M)-backed independent candidate and Ms. Prakashan from Mundamveli division as a Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) [NCP(SP)], a Left Democratic Front ally, candidate.

The duo was earlier with the Congress before quitting over the denial of seats in the last local body polls. It would be no exaggeration to say that the ‘Prakashan family’ holds sway over the Mundamveli division, now delimited into two. Mr. Prakashan first represented the division in 2000 and won again in 2005. When the division was reserved for women in 2010, Ms. Prakashan succeeded her husband and secured a record margin of 2,178 votes – the highest in Kochi Corporation in that election.

Mr. Prakashan returned in 2015, winning by 2,179 votes – one more than his wife’s tally. “When Congress tried to replace then mayor Soumini Jain just six months before the end of her term, I opposed it and walked out of the meeting held at the guest house. My question was why then, and not two-and-a-half years earlier, if at all they wanted to move her out,” he said.

In the 2020 election, when the Mundamveli division was again reserved for women, the party denied a seat to Ms. Prakashan. She contested as an independent and defeated the party candidate. “It’s a great feeling to fight the election together. Though both of us have to run our campaigns, I know he is right there in the neighbourhood to help me if I need it,” said Ms. Prakashan, who resigned from her job as an accountant during the pandemic. With their only daughter married, campaigning has not affected their family life.

Other couples contesting

While they may be the sole couple contesting in Kochi Corporation, there is no shortage of couples in the fray across other local bodies in the district. In neighbouring Thrikkakara municipality, CPI(M) has fielded C.A. Nishad and his wife Rasia Nishad in Kollamkudimugal and Karunalayam divisions, while the BJP has fielded debutants M.S. Sibin and his wife Reshma Kumaran from BMC and Kudilimukku divisions respectively.

In Aluva municipality, the National Democratic Alliance has fielded three couples – N. Srikanth and his wife M.R. Rajani from wards 5 and 4; A.R. Shine and Anitha Shine from wards 3 and 2; and M.K. Sathish and Sajitha Satheesh from wards 23 and 13 respectively. In Kuzhipilli panchayat along the coastal belt of Vypeen, M.P. Radhakrishnan and his wife Sujatha Radhakrishnan are contesting from wards 6 and 4 as independents.