Overview
- Rajesh secured 51 votes in the 101-member council, with the LDF’s R. P. Sivaji at 29 and the UDF’s K. S. Sabarinadhan at 17, two of which were later declared invalid.
- District Collector and Returning Officer Anu Kumari administered the oath as one councillor abstained and polling in the Vizhinjam ward remained postponed.
- The BJP’s tally of 50 councillors was lifted to a working majority by independent member M. (P.) Radhakrishnan’s support.
- The BJP had named G. S. Asha Nath as deputy mayor nominee, while reports noted former DGP R. Sreelekha’s displeasure after she was not chosen as the mayoral candidate.
- Opposition parties raised objections over oath-taking and voting procedures, and a bypoll in Vizhinjam is due in January that could tweak the arithmetic without immediately altering the BJP-led majority.