Mercy Williams is the 16th and current mayor of Kochi

Kochi (India)

Kochi , formerly Cochin, is a major port city on the west coast of India by the Arabian Sea. Kochi is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. Kochi is often called by the name Ernakulam, which refers to the western part of the mainland Kochi...

, Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

. She is Kochi's first woman mayor. A member of the Left Democratic Front, she was elected via an open ballot over opposing United Democratic Front

United Democratic Front (India)

United Democratic Front is an alliance of political parties of Kerala state in India. This alliance is led by the Indian National Congress....

 candidate Winne Abraham by a ratio of 47 to 23 votes among Kochi municipal corporation council members. On the council, Williams represented the municipal corporation's 36th division (Kunnumpuram).