LDF pitchforks young leaders into leadership roles in Kerala civic bodies

After sweeping the civic polls in the state, the ruling Left now seems to focus on creating a new ''Kerala model'' of entrusting responsibility of local administration to young faces, with some in their early twenties at the helm of affairs.

With the CPI(M) on Sunday officially declaring that Arya Rajendran will be its choice for the civic body chief's post in Thiruvananthapuram, the 21-year old becomes the youngest ever mayor in a major city in the country.

''The party district committee has decided to field S Arya Rajendran as the mayor candidate on behalf of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and Suresh Kumar as the district panchayat president of Thiruvananthapuram,'' the CPI(M) said in a statement. Rajendran is not the only young woman to lead key decisions in local bodies, but has others like Reshna Mariyam Roy and Saruthi P for company.

A A Rahim, state president of DYFI, the youth wing of the CPI(M), said youngsters taking charge in various local self-government institutions is a Left alternative and a Kerala model. ''Thousands of youngsters were part of DYFI in the election process. We have shown to the people a Left alternative, a Kerala model for the country,'' Rahim told P T I.

Roy (21), a Left ward member from Pathanamthitta, will become the youngest Panchayat president in the state. She will be the president of Aruvappulam panchayat in Pathanamthitta district after the election on December 30.

She was in the news recently as the youngest candidate in the electoral fray. ''I filed the nomination on November 18, a day before the final date of submission of nomination papers. This was because I turned 21 on that day,'' she told P T I.

Roy is a BBA degree holder and aspires to continue her studies through distance education. ''The Left party has a majority in the panchayat with nine seats out of the total 15. I am the youngest member but will definitely make use of the experience of the seniors in the party for effective governance. I hope to make mine the best panchayat,'' she said.

Further, the LDF has given the reins of Olavanna Grama Panchayat to a final year law student, 22-year old Saruthi, who won with a comfortable margin of 574 votes. The LDF won 17 seats out of the total 23 in Olavanna panchayat.

''This is a huge responsibility given by the party,'' Saruthi said she will have to prepare for her final semester exams starting from December 29. Anas Rosan Stephy (23), the Left candidate who won a seat to the Pozhuthana grama Panchayat in Wayanad district is the party's choice to head the local body.

A degree holder in Zoology from Providence College in Calicut, Stephy is from a tribal community and won from a general seat. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Disaster Management. When contacted, Stephy was already busy with various meetings at the Panchayat where the Left Front won seven seats out of the 13.

Ittiva panchayat in Kollam district will have 23-year old Amritha at its helm. ''This is a responsibility entrusted up on me by the party,'' said Amritha, a sociology degree holder, who also has a diploma from ITI.

The Left parties won 7,262 seats out of the total 15,962 in Grama Panchayat. It also bagged 1,266 seats out of the 2,080 seats in Block Panchayats. Out of the 331 seats in District Panchayat, the Left parties got 212 while it won 207 seats out of the 414 in six Corporations.

The LDF is all set to take charge in five corporations of the state-Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kochi, Thrissur and Kozhikode- on Monday and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) will rule the Kannur corporation.

The Mayor and Deputy Mayor elections to corporations will take place on Monday. The exact figures of Gram Panchayats will be out after December 30 when the elections for the Presidents and vice presidents will take place.

''There are many local body institutions in the state won by the LDF and are led by someone below the age of 40. This shows that an earlier trend of apolitical mentality among the youth has gone. More youngsters are taking part in democracy,'' he said.