Having passed the legal litmus, Tamil Nadu will after three years hold rural local body elections in 27 districts on December 27 and 30. Nine districts carved out of four of them have been left out following a Supreme Court directive as the delimitation and the reservation processes have to be completed there. In the 27 districts, the grassroots-level democratic exercise now underway has in some ways set the stage for drama, role-play and, in some cases, crime.
In a few villages, panchayat positions have been auctioned. Those who were willing to pay for the “welfare of villagers” were automatically nominated. But what is their definition of welfare? In most cases, it revolves around promising to restore temples, footing the bill for rituals and cleaning up temple tanks.
The auction process is simple. Village elders gather around a common courtyard or even in a temple community hall where panchayat hearings are often held, and in an IPL-style bidding, call out the amount with promises that run into lakhs of rupees. The highest bidder gets the post. In one village in Cuddalore district, it was Rs 50 lakh, where a man promised to restore a temple that has been lying dilapidated for a long time. A few other instances of auctions have surfaced, with prices ranging from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.
In a village in Virudhunagar district last week, a private bank employee was beaten to death allegedly because he protested the “auction”. Despite media reports and the state election commission’s vigil, promising cash for a cause in return for a seat seems to have caught the imagination of the aspirants. Most of these cases go unreported as they are often verbal and under wraps. As of now, over 9,000 are set to becoming panchayat chiefs unopposed.
Caste and gender, of course, play a very vital role in the poll process. Since there are reserved constituencies, Dalits ought to get leadership positions. But would many of them end up as puppets of caste Hindus as in the past? As for reserved seats for women, if past experience is anything to go by, most of them are dummy candidates with the actual power resting with their spouse or sons. In fact, a 90-year-old woman recently joined the race for panchayat president in a village near Salem. Whether or not she is a proxy for a male in the family or is determined to carve a niche for herself remains to be seen. DMK leader Kanimozhi’s announcement that 50 per cent of women cadre in the party would enter the fray was aimed at addressing the gender skew. We will soon know if she walked the talk.
There is an interesting case of Arimalam in Pudukottai district where reservation may end up in a woman Scheduled Caste panchayat chief being elected unopposed because that post is reserved for a Dalit woman. There are 13 wards in the union and Arimalam falls under Ward 13 that has been reserved for an SC woman. Since it is unlikely that political parties will field an SC or women candidate outside the reserved category seats, the Arimalam winner could well get the crown.
Despite all the flaws, there is no other way to strengthen grassroots-level democracy than holding Panchayati Raj elections. The state election commission had announced in September 2016, that elections would be held in October that year. The Madras High Court had set December 31 as the deadline to do so. But the state lost its chief minister, J Jayalalithaa, in December that year, which led to political uncertainty for a period. Local body polls were never held after that.
In January 2018, AIADMK decided to switch to direct elections for the head of urban local bodies. This meant the mayor would be elected directly. But after the SC hearing, the government brought an ordinance and switched back to indirect elections. So, when will the urban local body polls be held? They are expected early next year. As of now, all eyes are set on the 91,975 posts that are waiting to be filled. It may well be the trailer to the 2021 grand show.
Subhashini Dinesh
Deputy Resident Editor, Tamil Nadu
subhashini@newindianexpress.com