P. Sathyabama from AIADMK was elected Chairperson of Tiruppur District Panchayat in the indirect elections held on Saturday.
She won the post with 14 out of the 17 District Panchayat Councillors voting in her favour, District Administration officials said. She won the local body elections from Ward No. 13 reserved for Scheduled Caste (Women). A. Seethalakshmi, who won Ward No. 1 reserved for Scheduled Caste (Women), also contested for the Chairperson of District Panchayat, but lost to Ms. Sathyabama.
In the indirect elections held for the Chairperson of Panchayat Unions, however, the DMK alliance managed to win in seven out of 13 Panchayat Unions in Tiruppur district. Palladam, Pongalur, Dharapuram, Madathukulam, Udumalpet, Uthukuli and Mulanur were the seven Panchayat Unions where the elected Councillors chose candidates from the DMK alliance.
The AIADMK alliance managed to win in only four Panchayat Unions: Avinashi, Gudimangalam, Vellakoil and Tiruppur. Independent candidates won the Chairperson post of Kangeyam and Kundadam Panchayat Unions, officials said.
These results were a reflection of the local body elections, where the AIADMK gained a majority in the District Panchayat Councillor elections with 13 out of 17 wards and the DMK alliance winning 88 out of 170 wards in Panchayat Union Councillor elections.
Vice-chairperson elections
P. Sivagami was elected Vice-Chairperson of Tiruppur District Panchayat. She won the local body elections from Ward No. 2 reserved for women.
The DMK alliance managed a thin majority in the Vice-Chairperson elections for Panchayat Unions, winning the post of Vice-Chairperson in six Panchayat Unions. The AIADMK alliance won in five Panchayat Unions while independent candidates won in two Panchayat Unions.
Congress displeased
Tensions ran high between allies DMK and Congress as DMK candidate E. Balasubramaniyam became the Vice-Chairperson of Palladam Panchayat Union, a post which was previously allotted to the Congress. Sources privy to the incident said the post was allotted by the DMK's high command and it had submitted the allocations of Panchayat Unions to its allies in writing prior to the local body polls. Congress functionaries in Tiruppur are yet to decide the next course of action regarding this controversy, sources said.
