A total of six municipal corporations and 62 municipalities across Tamil Nadu would have women as mayors and chairpersons respectively in the upcoming local body polls, which are expected to be held next month.
Among the 12 corporations, Coimbatore, Dindigul, Madurai, Tiruchi, Tirunelveli and Vellore (Scheduled Caste) would have women as mayors, as these seats have been reserved for women candidates by the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department. However, it is to be noted that women mayoral candidates could also contest in other corporations, including the one in Thoothukudi, which has been reserved for candidates from the SC community. A notification to that effect has been made in the extraordinary issue of the State government gazette issued on September 16.
As for the municipalities, the post of chairperson in 52 municipalities have been reserved for women candidates, nine for women from SC community and one for women from the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community. Eight municipalities are reserved for candidates from the SC community, according to another notification.
The post of president in 218 town panchayats has been reserved for women candidates, another 44 for SC women, two for ST women, 43 for SC candidates and one for ST candidate.
The notifications follow the announcement of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa made in the floor of the State Assembly earlier this year that 50 per cent of seats in the local and urban local bodies across the State would be reserved for women candidates.
