Ernakulam district panchayat president Asha Sanil resigns

KOCHI: Asha Sanil , who completed three-and-a-half years as president of Ernakulam district panchayat resigned from the post on Friday. She handed over her resignation to district panchayat secretary in the afternoon. The resignation is as part of an agreement within the 'I' faction of the Congress and will pave way for nomination of Molly Kuriakose as the new president.

TOI had reported last week that the Congress leadership had decided to replace Sanil with Kuriakose immediately after the Lok Sabha polls. Meanwhile, the Congress sources said there would be no change of the guard at the Kochi corporation, where mayor Soumini Jain is facing heat from within the party.

Speaking to reporters here before submitting her resignation Sanil said she was 100% satisfied with her time as president. "We are one of the best performing district panchayats in the state and have won several awards, including Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar 2015-16 for the activities undertaken in the past three years," she said. Answering a question on who would be replacing her, Sanil said the decision would be taken by the Congress leadership. "I think we have enough women in the UDF who are suitable for the post," she said. Admitting that she put in her papers as per an existing understanding within the 'I' group, Sanil said the Congress leadership asked her to resign on April 24, a day after the polls.

"I absolutely have no issues with the directive as I feel I am duty-bound to go by the party diktat. They chose me for the post of the panchayat president because they had confidence in me and I am sure that I lived up to their expectation. I am resigning from the post without any ill-will. I am also confident that both the ruling party and the opposition would work together as a team," she said. Sanil has now been offered the post of vice-president of Mahila Congress in the state.