Kochi: A resolution brought by the opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) protesting the state government’s reduction of more than ₹109 crore in plan funds for the Kochi Corporation failed to secure the council’s approval on Monday after a vote.
The resolution, introduced by councillor K J Basil, was backed by only 28 of the 76 councillors present, including six members of the BJP. The voting followed an intense debate in which the LDF and BJP criticised the reduction in allocations, while the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) defended the revised budget.
The opposition wanted the resolution to be officially forwarded to the state government. However, the UDF administration, headed by Mayor VK Minimol, resisted the demand, accusing the LDF of attempting to turn the issue into a political campaign. LDF parliamentary party leader V A Sreejith, however, insisted that the resolution be put to a vote, saying “even if it was defeated, the outcome would expose the ruling front’s political stand on the issue”.
BJP councillor Priya Prashanth also supported forwarding the resolution to the government. She argued that reducing financial support to local self-government institutions set an unhealthy precedent. “The government has taken steps such as allowing the sale of low-alcohol beverages. But why are they simultaneously reducing allocations meant for local bodies, which should not have been touched,” she said.
Defending the government’s financial decisions, UDF councillor M G Aristotle said the opposition had ignored other sources of funding made available to the corporation through the revised budget. “The reduction in plan funds was balanced by an allocation of ₹84 crore under the 16th Finance Commission, which the civic body could spend with considerable flexibility, much like its general fund,” he said. He also pointed to an additional ₹30 crore sanctioned under the 15th Finance Commission for sanitation-related works.
Aristotle further said the corporation was yet to receive another ₹33 crore, which would take its total entitlement to ₹90 crore, which is 33 per cent higher than the previous year’s allocation. In view of these additional grants, he argued that the opposition’s claim of a drastic reduction in development funds was misleading.
During the discussion, Sreejith maintained that Kochi, despite contributing the highest revenue to the state exchequer, had not received the financial support it deserved. Mayor Minimol responded that the city had not been granted any special package during the previous five years when the LDF governed the state. Rejecting that argument, Sreejith said it was unfair to suggest that the previous LDF government had failed to undertake anything for Kochi.
Welfare Standing Committee Chairperson Antony Painuthara joined the debate by saying that the UDF administration had created space for such discussions to take place in the council. He claimed that similar debates were not possible when the LDF was in power.
