An altercation captured on camera inside the office of the Dharmapuri municipality chairperson has brought spotlight back to the old practice of male relatives of female local body heads ruling by proxy.
The video showed an altercation between a group of contractors and the chairperson of Dharmapuri municipality Lakshmi Nattan Madhu along with her husband Nattan Madhu, also the DMK’s town secretary.
The contractors, who had bagged an auction of HR&CE land in Dharmapuri town to run a hotel, were purportedly meeting Ms. Lakshmi to discuss the pending application for the electricity connection. At this point, her husband Mr. Nattan, who was also in the office, began mediating. Soon, the conversation descended to an altercation.
One of the contractors speaking to the media, said, “We have got all clearances, and the application for electricity connection was pending. How does the municipality run, if this is the case? If they pasted a schedule of fees and charges outside the municipality, we would atleast know how long our applications will take to be processed.”
Ms. Lakshmi, addressing the media, claimed that she had no powers over HR&CE land and there was no approval pending under her purview. She also claimed that she had summoned her husband to her chambers when the contractors entered.
Meanwhile, the Dharmapuri police have registered cases against 5 persons based on a complaint lodged by Ms. Lakshmi.
