Kundazhiyoor Panchayath

GMUP School in the village displayed a name board which reads “Govt. Mappila School – Kundazhiyoor”. As a child I always wondered why a school in Padoor should bear such a different place name. None of my friends were able to tell me where Kundazhiyoor actually is!

Later on when I have started seeing the land ownership certificates, my curiosity was multiplied as there too our place name was mentioned as “Kundazhiyoor amsam, Padoor desam”.

In the Malabar District, elected local bodies were functioning since 1930. In the Madras province, their powers were enhanced after the Independence (Madras Village Panchayt Act 1950). As you know, Malabar remained part of the Madras province at that time.

A Panchayath was constituted in every village with a population of at least 500 people. The Panchayath President as well as members was directly elected by the people. The panchayath elections were done by a show of hands (not ballots) of those present at the venue of the electoral meeting.

The name of Panchayath in which Padoor included was Kundazhiyoor which also incorporated the Thoyakkavu & Kundazhiyoor desams or villages (Please see the Basel Mission Archieves map. Name of the desam was shown therein as "PATUR" #421). Interestingly the panchayath at the opposite side of the Canolly Canal was named “Kundaliyoor”.

The first election on the basis of universal adult franchise to these panchayaths was conducted during 1954.

During this election to Kundazhiyoor Panchayath, the Muslim League fought with the backing of the Congress. By that time, the Communists become very active in the village and they too managed to form an alliance.

Othulli Abdul Kader was the ML-Congress front’s presidential candidate. He was opposed by Muthattu Parakkutty pitted by the Communists. S M Moosal Kassim Thangal, R P Bavoo and P K Bapputty were the League Combine’s member candidates. The other side fielded A M Thangal, P K Mohammedunni and Kanichiyil Krishnan.

At the end an intense campaign – on a scale never witnessed before that - the League Combine won by a mere 9 votes. This itself was a surprise since in Kundazhiyoor Panchayath the League-Congress combine backed by the privileged class was always considered formidable.