Ruling party allies pitch for direct mayoral polls

The VCK led by Chidambaram MP Thol Thirumavalavan has now asked the DMK regime to conduct direct mayoral elections in the state. Making a public appeal to Stalin via his social media handle, Thirumavalavan said, “We request (the government) to implement the system of people casting their votes and directly electing the heads of Corporations and Municipalities.” Posting a copy of a letter he had written to the then Tamil Nadu chief minister in 2019, Thirumavalavan also reiterated that the government should come forward to reserve vice president posts for SC, STs and women as per an order of the Madras High Court. The VCK leader also asked the government to increase the volume of reservation to 20 per cent as per the 2011 census.

Significantly, the ruling DMK seems to be in no mood to acquiesce to its allies request of holding direct mayoral elections. If sources in the DMK are to be believed, the decision to reserve key Mayor posts like Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai for women might be an indication that the high command has chosen not to conduct direct elections, which would require fielding resourceful bigwigs of the respective district party units in the mayoral elections.

Speculations were rife a few months ago that the DMK MLA from Chepauk-Triplicane, Udhayanidhi Stalin might emulate his father and run for Chennai Mayorship. However, it was put to rest after rumours mills tipped Stalin junior’s name for a ministerial berth.