Venkitangu Panchayath

Upon the reorganization of the revenue districts post the 1957 State Reorganization, a new panchayath merging the existing Kundazhiyoor Panchayath with two other adjacent panachayaths came in to existence. This new panchayath was named Venkitangu Panchayath. The other two panchayath that got merged in to Venkitangu Panchayath were Irimbranelloor (Enamavu & nearby areas) and Venkitangu (Venkitangu & Kannoth).

The first election to the unified Venkitangu Panchayath was conducted during 1962.

This was the time when, perhaps the most famous son of the unified Venkitangu Panchayath - Rev. Father Joseph Vadakkan - had split from the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) and formed his own Karshaka Thozhilali Party (KTP). The KTP had allied with the Communist Party and the Muslim League against the Congress. The KTP Alliance had defeated the Congress in Venkitangu Panchayath elections by 6 – 4 margin.

Late Mr. Zainul Abideen Thangal alias Kochu Koya Thangal, representing Muslim League for the Alliance, was elected unopposed from Padoor. Mr. Thangal went on to represent Padoor in the Pnachayath for a long time after that and perhaps he still remains the longest serving vice president in Venkitangu Panchayath.

Mr. K K Mohammedali, hailing from Padoor and elected on Communist Party ticket from the Kannoth/Thoyakkavu Ward, became the first President of the Venkitangu Panchayath representing the Alliance.

Padoor – Part in politics

After India’s Independence, the area comprising todays’ Padoor remained part of the Malabar District within the State of Madras. Within this disctrict, we were part of the Ponnani Taluk. In Ponnani Taluk, Padoor and Thoyakkavu together formed the smaller revenue unit named Kundazhiyoor Panchayath (Kundazhiyoor Amsam).

(Note: A map of the Padoor Desam within the Ponnani Taluk during 19th or early 20th Century (undated though) is included in the Basel Mission Archieves published during 2012. Name of the desam was shown therein as "PATUR".)

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Malabar_district_Map.jpg)

The States Reorganization Act of 1956 that came into being as on 1st November 1956 was responsible for formation of the India's provinces based on linguistic and semantic barriers. In line with this Act, the new State of Kerala was formally inaugurated on November 1, 1956.