Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Roles of parties set to change in Coimbatore Corporation council

K.V. Prasad

With Congressman in charge, AIADMK may turn into Opposition

COIMBATORE: Change in political equations in the State and the resignation of Mayor T. Malaravan are set to have a bearing on the roles of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and its allies and the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) in the Coimbatore Corporation Council.

Mr. Malaravan has been nominated the AIADMK's candidate for the Coimbatore West constituency for the Assembly elections. He resigned on March 31. The resignation will be placed in the Council on April 7 for being recorded.

After the Assembly elections, the Council will be convened for the next four or five sittings by Deputy Mayor K. Raghupathy, who is a Congress member. The AIADMK will then switch to the role of the Opposition, sources say. And, this time it will have another ally - MDMK.

Local body elections

Normally, Council meetings are held towards the end of a month. Going by that, there is possibility of sittings from May to August. But there are doubts over the meeting being held in September-end as the local body elections may be scheduled for October.

With a Congressman in the Chair, the AIADMK will automatically acquire the position of an Opposition, some councillors say.

"We will definitely lend full support to the AIADMK," says M. Krishnasamy, leader of the MDMK in the Council.

AIADMK sources themselves wonder how effective meetings will be during those months. These councillors may only give back to the DMK-Congress-Left front what they got when their party man was the Mayor.

Their hands will be strengthened if the AIADMK wins the Assembly polls.

Major schemes

Sources on both sides say that there may, however, be not much time left for all the parties to get their act together for the local body elections. There is plenty of work left, especially pending projects. Some of them are major works such as underground drainage and drinking water schemes. Besides, most of the councillors on both sides are working for basic amenities in 533 unapproved layouts across the city.

The Government passed an order that provided for amenities such as roads, drainage, drinking water supply to individual houses and streetlights in these layouts.

Between Assembly and local body elections, there is very little time for the Corporation to complete these works. It will be a tight finish for the councillors for whom the stakes are high in these layouts. Therefore, there may not be much sabre-rattling on party lines, says a section of the councillors.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

`Future belongs to technology-enabled education'
Roles of parties set to change in Coimbatore Corporation council
Sewage makes school a nightmare for students
Consumer body plea to Union Finance Minister
New ICU at CMCH opened
`Use of IT in textile industry imperative'
Rally stresses need to educate girl child
Woman gets her hand back after surgery
Campus interview on April 7, 8
`Start Up' broadband plan for business users
Around the City
In Coimbatore Today

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu