For the first time since 2016, urban local bodies in Tamil Nadu will get elected heads this week with the State Election Commission (SEC) announcing the elections for choosing them through the indirect method on March 4. They will be elected by 12,800 councillors who won the February 19 elections held to 21 municipal corporations, 138 municipalities, and 489 town panchayats.
While the new councillors will be sworn in on March 2, they will elect mayors, deputy mayors, chairpersons, vice-chairpersons, presidents and vice presidents of corporations, municipalities, and town panchayats on March 4. With the ruling party alliance registering a landslide win in the elections, the DMK combine will form the council in all 21 municipal corporations, over 120 municipalities, and 400 town panchayats.
In total, indirect elections for 1,296 posts will be held on March 4 across the state, the SEC said in a statement. While nominations will be received in the morning, the elections will be held, if there is more than one contender, in the afternoon, it added.
Chennai, the state capital, will get its first woman mayor from the Scheduled Castes (SC) with the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) being reserved for SC (women) by the Tamil Nadu government. The Chennai Corporation has had two women mayors in the past – Tara Cherian (1957-1958), and Kamakshi Jayaraman (1971-1972).
Two municipal corporations located just outside Chennai – Tambaram and Avadi – will also have members from the same community as mayors. While Tambaram is reserved for SC (women), Avadi is SC (general). Of the 21 Corporations, two are reserved for SC (women), one for SC (general), and nine for General (women). The remaining nine are general category seats.
This is the first time that elections to urban local bodies are held for the first time since 2011 – the civic bodies were bereft of elected representatives since October 24 after the Madras High Court granted a stay on the elections announced by the then AIADMK Government.
After three years, the government conducted elections to rural local bodies in 2019, and the elections to urban local bodies could not be held due to the Covid-19 pandemic and assembly elections. The DMK government, which assumed office in May 2021, has now conducted the long-pending elections.
Jayaram Venkatesan of Arappor Iyakkam, an anti-corruption NGO, said the councillors should ensure that they are accessible to the people in their respective wards, besides ushering in an area of transparency and accountability. He also demanded that area sabhas and ward committees be constituted in all 21 municipal corporations and 138 municipalities in line with an amendment made in 2010.
“The new councillors should ensure greater transparency in the functioning of the urban local bodies. They should push for a live telecast of the council meeting and ensure that all details relating to works undertaken by the civic bodies like roads be placed in the public domain. Besides, the newly elected councillors should ensure quality in the works undertaken,” Venkatesan told DH.
Infographics:
No. of municipal corporations: 21
No. of. Municipalities: 138
No. of town panchayats: 489
No. of posts for which elections will be held on March 4: 1,296
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