The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : End of direct polls for Mayors?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 02, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

End of direct polls for Mayors?

Karthik Subramanian

To ensure heads are from ruling majority

CHENNAI: It is reliably learnt that the State Government is considering doing away with direct elections to the posts of Mayor and Municipal Chairman for the local bodies.

The Government's deliberations on amending the District Municipalities Act and relevant Acts governing civic Corporations have become the talking point among councillors at the Ripon Buildings, the civic headquarters, over the past week.

The move is to prevent possibilities of the Mayor or the Municipal Chairman emerging from a party other than the ruling majority.

If the councillors are to elect the Mayor or the Municipal chairman, the candidate is more likely to enjoy the backing of the elected council and hence hold sway over the proceedings.

Tough going

Much of the discussions now are based on happenings in the Chennai Corporation Council where the Mayor's post has remained vacant for nearly four years.

The going was tough for Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin when he was re-elected Chennai Mayor in 2001. The AIADMK secured the maximum number of councillors' posts and went on to be the ruling majority.

More recently, another conflict emerged at the Corporation Council when the majority AIADMK members were evicted from a meeting because of differences with Deputy Mayor R. Thiagarajan who had left the party to join the Congress.

A section of DMK councillors said the handling of the Mayor's position over the past five years had forced the rethink.

"They curtailed the financial powers to the Mayor only because Mr. Stalin was elected. The financial powers of the Commissioner have subsequently been increased. That is not the way to treat the Mayor that 27 lakh voters of the city choose."

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