The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Youth and women to the fore in local body polls

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Friday, Oct 06, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Youth and women to the fore in local body polls

K. Lakshmi

90 pc of candidates in Ambattur are below 35 Out of 380 candidates 215 are independents

CHENNAI : The municipalities in the western suburbs are seeing more youngsters and women in the fray in the local body polls.

About 90 per cent of the candidates at Ambattur municipality are youngsters in the age group of 21 to 35. A municipality official said that about 380 candidates were contesting this election, of whom 215 were independents.

Youngsters have taken the maximum number of seats in both the municipalities even on political front. The candidates from Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam have also added a fresh touch to this election.

Organisations in fray

Several organisations have decided to test the waters in the local body polls. Three candidates are contesting on behalf of Tamil Nadu Movement Against Bribery in Ambattur.

Independent candidates

P. Mahalingam, retired dean of Madras Veterinary College, is contesting in ward 17 that includes areas around Krishnapuram.

The other independent candidates are Sukumar, a small-scale industrialist contesting in Vinayakapuram and Charulatha Ilayakumar, a homemaker.

The highlight in Avadi municipality is the high proportion of independent contestants this time. C. Gopalakrishnan, an independent councillor of ward 11, is contesting again in Thirumulaivoyal on behalf of the Indian Society for Cultural Co-operation and Friendship, an organisation established two decades ago. His fieldwork in Thirumulaivoyal area as the secretary of the organisation has made this 66-year-old candidate more popular among the residents.

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