RANIPET: The AIADMK ward members alleged irregularities in the Thakkolam town panchayat chairperson elections. Eight ward members of the party on Monday urged the Collector D Baskara Pandiayan to look into alleged foul play and hold a re-election. This comes after a DMK ward member was elected as chairperson.
In the Thakkolam town panchayat elections in Ranipet, the AIADMK won in six places and the PMK won a seat. An independent candidate emerged victorious in the 13th ward. After the polls, both the PMK member and the independent ward member joined the Opposition party.
This had increased the AIADMK's total strength in the town panchayat to eight out of 15 members, while the DMK had six members.
Despite AIADMK having the majority support, DMK ward member Nagarajan was elected as the panchayat chairperson in the indirect elections held on Friday. Following this, the AIADMK members boycotted the deputy chairperson elections and alleged foul play in favour of the ruling party in this matter.
In their joint petition to the Collector, the AIADMK ward members alleged the Thakkolam returning officer bypassed the rules abruptly in favour of the DMK and disqualified two votes. They also said the returning officer threatened them with police force. The members requested Pandiayan to look into the CCTV footage and hold a re-poll for the chairperson post.
"Eight councillors were supporting a chairperson then how can they elect the person with backing from seven councillors. This is skewed in favour of the DMK regime," independent councillor T Pandiyan told TNIE. Also, Opposition ward members claimed caste-based favouritism played a role in chairperson elections.