All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate S. Chockalingam, who is the councillor of the 43rd ward of Vellore Corporation, was elected Deputy Mayor of the Corporation in the indirect by-election held at the Council Hall in the Corporation Building here on Thursday.
He polled 30 votes among a total strength of 61 voters comprising the Mayor and 60 other councillors, as against 28 votes polled by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate and 38th ward councillor S. Raja.
The by-election was caused by the resignation of V.D. Dharmalingam (AIADMK) as Deputy Mayor in the last week of May 2014.
After the counting of votes Janaki Raveendran, Commissioner of the Corporation, who is the Returning Officer, announced that a total of 59 votes were polled, of which Mr. Chockalingam obtained 30 votes, and Mr. Raja 28 votes, while one vote was invalid.
Two councillors, S. Megala (17th ward) and S. Sudha (18th ward) of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, who came late were not allowed to enter the hall as per rules, and were treated as absent.
Earlier, when some DMK councillors demanded that the two MDMK councillors be allowed to vote, the Commissioner said that since the election meeting had started at 10.30 a.m., as per the election rules, the Returning Officer can wait for quorum only for half-an-hour.
Since the two councillors came at 11.10 a.m. after the waiting time was over and the polling process had commenced, they could not be allowed to enter the hall as per the rules. No sooner the two councillors left the hall, DMK workers started knocking and banging at the door of the council hall from outside, demanding that the two councillors be allowed to enter the hall and vote. They were removed by the police.
Flutter
One AIADMK councillor K. Sukumar of 49th ward who claimed impaired vision on account of cataract created a flutter when he sought assistance to vote.
However he later voted on his own though rules permitted assistance for illiterate or differently-abled voters.
When the meeting started, only two candidates, namely Mr. Chockalingam and Mr. Raja filed their nominations.
Sixty-three-year-old Mr. Chockalingam was the former president of the Viruppakshipuram village panchayat which was later annexed to the Vellore Corporation.
Two MDMK councillors, who came late, were not allowed to enter the hall as per rules and treated as absent
