TIRUNELVELI: AIADMK Thisayanvilai town panchayat chairperson M Jansirani and eight councillors, who supported her, boycotted the no-confidence motion scheduled to be tabled on Wednesday. Jansirani, along with her supporters, petitioned the district administration, alleging that the eight councillors were receiving death threats from her opponents.
In her petition to Collector Dr KP Karthikeyan, Jansirani alleged that her rivals were pressuring the councillors supporting her to accept bribes, and sought police protection for them. Thisayanvilai town panchayat council has 18 members, with nine supporting Jansirani and nine backing a DMK candidate. Due to this equal split, Jansirani was elected chairperson by a draw of lots two years ago. Last month, two independent councillors supporting Jansirani shifted their allegiance to the DMK candidate.
Consequently, the majority of councillors demanded a no-confidence motion against her. However, on Tuesday, the two independent councillors rejoined Jansirani’s faction. As most councillors boycotted the council meeting, leading to a lack of quorum, the motion could not be proceeded with.
On September 13, a majority of the councillors submitted a petition to the assistant director (Town panchayat), urging the administration to move the no-confidence motion. They accused Jansirani of misappropriating funds and claimed that her husband was unlawfully performing her duties at the town panchayat office.