Just days after picking the state’s youngest Mayor, the CPM gives Kerala its youngest village panchayat president. Reshma Mariam Roy, who turned 21 just a day before she filed her nomination papers on November 19, is elected president of Aruvappulam panchayat in Pathanamthitta.
Reshma won with a majority of 70 per cent of votes from a Congress strong hold. She secured 450 votes by defeating Congress’ Sujatha Mohan and won back a seat that the CPM had lost years ago. Ward 11 (Oottupara) from which she had contested, was won by the Congress for the last three elections. However, this time the president post is reserved for women.
An active SFI member while doing BBA at VNS College of Arts and Science in Konni, she is the district secretariat member of the SFI and district committee member of the DYFI.
Earlier, on Sunday, the CPM has officially declared Arya Rajendran, a 21-year-old student, as the next Mayor of the capital city, Thiruvananthapuram. She had won 2,872 votes more than her rival candidate from the Mudavanmughal ward of Thiruvananthapuram. When Arya takes oath, she will be the youngest Mayor in the State.