In indirect elections on Friday, the ruling DMK’s 20 mayoral candidates and its ally Congress’s nominee, an autorickshaw driver, were elected to the top posts in civic bodies in Tamil Nadu, and they took charge.
Kumbakonam chose an autorickshaw driver, while Chennai elected its first Dalit woman mayor in 334 years.
On the other hand, indirect polls to elect chairpersons of municipalities and town panchayats, on the other hand, saw tussles and high drama in some regions, with DMK ward members defeating nominees from alliance parties in a string of local bodies, despite the party’s diktat.
It includes positions in civic bodies provided by the DMK to elected representatives of allies such as the CPI (M) and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK).
Following the outrage expressed by the ruling party’s allies, DMK president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin expressed deep remorse to allies and instructed his party’s ward members who defeated alliance party nominees to resign immediately.
Stalin threatened them with expulsion from the party’s core membership if they did not resign.
Priya Rajan is the first Dalit woman to be elected mayor of Chennai.
Priya Rajan, the ruling party’s nominee, was elected unopposed and assumed office as mayor of Chennai in the presence of state ministers Ma Subramanian, a previous mayor, and P K Sekar Babu earlier in the day.
The 28-year-old woman is the first Dalit woman elected to the Greater Chennai Corporation’s mayorship (GCC). She holds a master’s degree in commerce and is the city’s youngest mayor.
Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Principal Secretary and GCC Commissioner, gave her the oath of office in the Ripon Building. Sekar Babu and Subramanian presented Priya, the third woman mayor of Chennai and the corporation’s 49th mayor, with a mace.
On March 2, all 200 councillors elected to the GCC in the recent urban civic elections were sworn in.
Minister Sekar Babu tweeted that Rajan’s victory as mayor of Chennai is the result of Chief Minister M K Stalin’s tireless work for the benefit of the people over the past nine months. People voted for the DMK in local government elections to ensure excellent governance in municipal bodies, he remarked.
Auto Kumbakonam’s new mayor is a rickshaw driver.
Kumbakonam, a Congress nominee and an autorickshaw driver, was elected mayor of Kumbakonam in the Thanjavur district and took office.
He was Kumbakonam Corporation’s first mayor. Civic elections were held in February this year after the government converted Kumbakonam municipality to a municipal corporation in December 2021. A top official presented Saravanan with a scepter.
Madurai will also have a female mayor.
Indrani of the DMK was elected mayor of Madurai, and she took office in the presence of Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan and other authorities.
Edited By- Subbuthai Padma
Published By- Satheesh Kumar
