Six months of UDF rule in Kerala’s Pala municipality ends with ouster of chairperson Diya Binu

The six-month-old United Democratic Front (UDF) administration in the Pala municipality in Kerala collapsed on Tuesday (July 21, 2026) after the municipal council voted out chairperson Diya Binu in a no-confidence motion.

The no-confidence motion, moved by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) against Ms. Binu, regarded as the youngest chairperson of any civic body in the country, was passed with the support of 17 councillors, including four Congress members and UDF vice-chairperson Bindu Rahul. Two Congress councillors, Riya Cheeramkuzhy and Sebastian Panackal, abstained from voting in compliance with a Whip issued by District Congress Committee (DCC) president Nattakom Suresh. Three Kerala Congress members of the ruling front and a councillor belonging to the Kerala Democratic Party led by MLA Mani C. Kappan also abstained.

The four Congress councillors who voted in favour of the motion had earlier refused to accept the DCC Whip, while Ms. Rahul, who was elected as an Independent, was not bound by it.

The vote marked the culmination of months of bitter infighting that had virtually paralysed the civic administration. The no-confidence motion was moved by the Opposition, comprising 10 Kerala Congress (M) councillors and two CPI(M) councillors, which accused the ruling coalition of allowing the council’s functioning to grind to a halt.

The UDF, which has only 10 members in the 26-member council, had wrested control of the municipality by forging an alliance with the three-member Independent Collective and securing the support of Ms. Rahul, a Congress rebel elected as an Independent. The arrangement, however, was fraught from the outset. The Independents had initially staked claim to both the chairperson and vice-chairperson posts for the first half of the council’s tenure. Intervention by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and the UDF leadership eventually produced a power-sharing formula under which Ms. Binu became chairperson while Ms. Rahul was accommodated as vice-chairperson.

The agreement, however, soon began to unravel as personal and political differences spilled into the public domain, with rival camps filing police complaints against each other. The six Congress councillors and Ms. Rahul eventually withdrew support to Ms. Binu, while repeated mediation efforts by the DCC failed to salvage the alliance.

Accepts verdict: Diya Binu

Responding to her ouster, Ms. Binu said she accepted “the democratic verdict” with respect. “To the people of Pala, I have only this to say with conviction. I have not yielded to corruption, violated the law, or allowed public funds to be spent on the basis of political considerations. Throughout my tenure, I have done everything within my power to safeguard the trust the people placed in me,” she said.

The collapse of the coalition has also set off speculations that the KC(M), which is the principal Opposition party, could extend outside support to the UDF to help it retain control of the municipality. Kerala Congress (M) chairman Jose K. Mani’s remarks following the vote have only intensified the speculation.

“What unfolded in the Pala municipality was not governance but a prolonged political spectacle. As a responsible Opposition, it was our duty to bring it to an end. It was the ruling side’s own members who had become disillusioned with the administration. We will not resort to unethical means to capture power,” he said.

The developments have lent fresh momentum to discussions on whether Pala could become the first testing ground for a thaw in relations between the Congress and the Kerala Congress (M), former allies that have remained on opposite sides for years.

Within the Congress, too, the political mood appears to be evolving, with a growing section of local leaders believing that a pragmatic understanding with the Kerala Congress (M) could offer greater stability than continuing the uneasy partnership with the Independent Collective.