Councillors take oath in TN, Mayoral elections on March 4

Buildings housing offices of civic bodies across Tamil Nadu wore a festive look on Wednesday as 12,800 newly-elected councillors took the oath of office. This is the first time that the 21 municipal corporations, 138 municipalities, and 489 town panchayats have elected representatives after a gap of six years.

The councillors, who were sworn in on Wednesday, will come to their respective council buildings on Friday to elect heads of the civic bodies through the indirect election. In some places, the councillors were taken for a “leisure trip” by members of their political parties to ensure they don’t jump the ship before the heads and vice heads are elected on March 4.

In Chennai, Principal Secretary/Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi administered the oath of office to all 200 councillors who emerged victorious in the February 19 elections. Among those who were sworn in are a pregnant woman, 21-year-old graduate, and 98 women, as the 50 per cent reservation for women in local bodies kick-in in the state.

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While the majority of the DMK members invoked party patriarch M Karunanidhi and Chief Minister M K Stalin, a few invoked Udhayanidhi Stalin, the CM’s son and MLA. The AIADMK councillors remembered J Jayalalithaa among others.

In Coimbatore, all 100 councillors who took the oath said they are aware that their election is subject to the outcome of a case in the Madras High Court filed in connection with the elections.

The council halls in all 648 civic bodies were decked up to welcome the councillors whose tenure will end in March 2027. While the commissioners administered the oath to councillors in municipal corporations and municipalities, it was the turn of the Executive Officer (EOs) in town panchayats to do the honours.

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The DMK alliance, which registered a landslide win in the elections, is poised to form councils in all 21 municipal corporations in the state, including Coimbatore, a known AIADMK bastion. The ruling party will also capture around 120 municipalities and 400 town panchayats.

In total, indirect elections for 1,296 posts will be held on March 4 across the state. While nominations will be received in the morning, the elections will be held, if there is more than one contender, in the afternoon. The DMK is yet to announce candidates for the elections due to stiff competition within the party – the leadership is mulling giving a considerable amount of posts to youngsters.

Chennai, the state capital, will get its first woman mayor from the Scheduled Castes (SC) with the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) being reserved for SC (women) by the Tamil Nadu government. The Chennai Corporation has had two women mayors in the past – Tara Cherian (1957-1958), and Kamakshi Jayaraman (1971-1972).

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Two municipal corporations located just outside Chennai – Tambaram and Avadi – will also have members from the same community as mayors. While Tambaram is reserved for SC (women), Avadi is SC (general). Of the 21 Corporations, two are reserved for SC (women), one for SC (general), and nine for General (women). The remaining nine are general category seats.

This is the first time that elections to urban local bodies were held for the first time since 2011 – the civic bodies were bereft of elected representatives since October 24 after the Madras High Court granted a stay on the elections announced by the then AIADMK Government.

After three years, the government conducted elections to rural local bodies in 2019, and the elections to urban local bodies could not be held due to the Covid-19 pandemic and assembly elections. The DMK government, which assumed office in May 2021, has now conducted the long-pending elections.

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