SALEM: The monthly council meeting of the Salem Corporation on Friday was disrupted by a dispute between Mayor A Ramachandran of the DMK and Deputy Mayor M Saradha Devi of the Congress over the placement of the deputy mayor's chair, with the meeting ending without any councillor being allowed to raise issues or speak on the listed resolutions.
Soon after entering the council hall, the mayor objected to the deputy mayor's chair being placed on the dais near his seat, saying he had repeatedly instructed that it be placed alongside the councillors. He refused to preside over the meeting and moved to sit with the councillors.
The deputy mayor, however, insisted that her chair should remain on the dais, saying she was ready to sit with the councillors if the mayor continued the meeting from there, but otherwise wanted to be seated next to him.
The mayor, deputy mayor, Corporation Commissioner Lalitaditya Neelam and some councillors held discussions in an attempt to resolve the issue, but to no avail.
After returning to the hall, the mayor once again instructed officials to move the chair down, while Saradha Devi opposed it. The mayor then announced that Saradha Devi would be suspended from attending the next two council meetings, alleging that she was preventing the conduction of proceedings. Saradha Devi subsequently staged a sit-in protest inside the hall.
The mayor later concluded the meeting and declared all the listed resolutions passed, without allowing any councillor to speak. Meanwhile, DMK councillor Easan Ilango walked out during discussions, alleging that a 'secret meeting' was being held and that the issue was being used to prevent councillors from raising public concerns.
Speaking to TNIE, Saradha Devi said, "Instead of focusing on public issues, the mayor is concerned about the placement of my chair, purely for personal reasons." She also said the mayor had no power to suspend her from attending council meetings.
Saradha Devi said that after she became deputy mayor following the 2022 local body elections, she was initially made to sit with the councillors. She said the corporation later followed the practice in other corporations of seating the deputy mayor next to the mayor, and she had since been seated on the dais.
The dispute follows similar disagreements over the deputy mayor's chair in earlier council meetings. In both the June and July meetings, the deputy mayor's chair was placed alongside the councillors. Saradha Devi walked out of the June meeting over the issue, while she was absent during the July meeting.
The council proceedings also drew criticism from Congress leaders. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president B Manickam Tagore alleged that the mayor's action reflected an anti-women approach and said the party would stand by Saradha Devi, while Karur MP S Jothimani termed the suspension undemocratic and demanded that it be withdrawn.
