THENI: Three urban secretaries of the DMK were suspended on Thursday for supporting other candidates in seats allotted to its allies, in the indirect election to urban local bodies. DMK general secretary Durai Murugan gave the suspension orders to D Balamurugan, SP Murali, and MV Selvaraj, urban secretaries of the party in Theni-Allinagaram, Periyakulam, and Bodinayakanur respectively.
In Theni-Allinagaram municipality, though the party had allotted the chairperson seat to the Congress, no one from the DMK supported the Congress candidate Sargunam. Hence, she did not file her nomination papers on March 5, the day of the indirect polls. Following this, Balamurugan’s wife and incumbent chairperson of the municipality B Renupriya filed her nomination and was elected unopposed.
In Periyakulam and Bodinayakanur municipalities, the vice-chairperson posts were originally allotted to the VCK and the Communist Party of India (CPI). However, DMK members Raja Mohamad and A Krishnaveni filed their nominations, and were elected to the posts in the respective municipalities. Even though DMK president and Chief Minister MK Stalin ordered those elected against “alliance-dharma” to resign from their posts, B Renupriya, Raja Mohamad, and Krishnaveni had not resigned.
Speaking to TNIE, DMK north district secretary Thanga Tamilselvan said if the concerned DMK urban secretaries submit an apology letter to the headquarters, their re-induction will be considered. “If they fail to submit the letter, the party will pass a resolution of ‘no-confidence motion’ on them after six months,” he said.
In Tiruppur, the party has suspended Kangeyam municipality council chairman N Suriya Prakash. The DMK had allotted the chairperson post to N Hemalatha of the Congress, where the latter had won 12 of the 18 wards. But, the DMK councillors objected and nominated their own members — N Suriya Prakash as chairman and A Ibrahim Kalilulla as vice-chairman. While Ibrahim Kalilulla resigned on March 8, Suriya Prakash continued to remain in the post.