A. Ramachandran of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam took charge as the fifth Mayor of Salem Corporation on Friday.
An area secretary of the party, Mr. Ramachandran (77), who got elected from Ward 6, was elected unopposed to the Mayor post.
Mr. Ramachandran received the certificate from Corporation Commissioner T. Christuraj in the presence of DMK MLA R. Rajendran and other party functionaries.
Mr. Ramachandran told presspersons he would work for the development of Salem city and the focus would be on providing basic amenities such as water, drainage and road facilities. Ward 7 councillor M. Saradha Devi of the Congress was elected unopposed as the Deputy Mayor.
Later, Mr. Ramachandran took charge as the Mayor in the presence of Minister for Municipal Administration K.N. Nehru. AIADMK councillors were not present during the elections.
In the indirect elections held to six Municipalities in Salem, DMK candidates were elected Chairpersons. M. Nirmala Papitha was elected Chairperson of Attur Municipality, P.G. Kamalakannan, Chairman of Edanganasalai, D.S.M. Basha was elected to Edappadi Municipality, G. Chandra, Chairperson of Mettur Municipality, M. Alexander in Narasingapuram, and T.M.S. Gunasekaran at Tharamangalam.
Among the 31 town panchayats in the district, the election was postponed in Vanavasi, Nangavalli, Kadayampatti and Belur. At Kadayampatti town panchayat, the DMK-led front allotted the Chairman post to Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi. However, only one member of VCK was elected to the local body. The indirect elections got postponed due to lack of quorum on Friday.
Among the 15 Wards in the Panchayat, both the DMK and the AIADMK won seven Wards each. However, neither DMK or VCK candidate turned up for the election on Friday.
Vanavasi was the only urban local body where AIADMK had a majority. However, the election to Vanavasi, Nangavalli and Belur got postponed citing law and order issues. AIADMK councillors condemned the postponement of election at Vanavasi.
At Mallur town panchayat where most number of independent candidates won, A. Latha, an indipendent candidate, was elected Chairperson. However, the Chairperson and other independent candidates joined the DMK later in the day in the presence of Mr. Nehru.
