DMK councillors secured the posts of chairpersons of all 15 zones in the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) in the indirect elections held at the Council Hall on Wednesday.
Though 50% of the councillors elected to the GCC in the urban local bodies elections last month were women thanks to the reservation of seats, only one of the 15 zonal chairpersons elected on Wednesday was a woman.
R. Saritha, the councillor of ward 69, was elected unopposed as the chairperson of zone 6.
With 153 of the 200 councillors belonging to the DMK and another 25 belonging to its allies, the party’s candidates managed to secure 14 of the 15 zonal chairperson posts without contest.
For zone 14 (Perungudi), K.P.K. Sathishkumar of the AIADMK, who is the councillor of ward 182, filed nomination against DMK candidate S.V. Ravichandran, the councillor of ward 184.
Repoll
The zone has 11 councillors, of whom eight are of the DMK and three of the AIADMK. Though the AIADMK candidate lost, securing just three votes, the election witnessed some drama.
After polling through secret ballot concluded, Mr. Sathishkumar raised objection to counting, alleging that the councillors carried their mobile phones while casting their votes. He argued that some could have taken pictures and that compromised the secrecy of the ballot.
Following a brief argument between him and the DMK members, GCC Commissioner and Returning Officer Gagandeep Singh Bedi asked the AIADMK councillor to file his objection in writing along with evidence, if available, of anyone taking pictures while casting their ballot.
Though no proof was submitted by the AIADMK candidate, Mr. Bedi ordered that a repoll be held to ensure fairness and transparency in the process. The repoll was conducted after all other councillors, except those from zone 14, were asked to vacate the hall. The councillors of zone 14 were asked to set aside their mobile phones.
No women
The election of members to the six standing committees in the afternoon saw the DMK and its allies struggling to get women candidates to at least three committees.
Of the 15 members in each committee, eight posts are reserved for women. While no other parties, except the DMK and its alliance partners, filed nominations for the posts, three standing committees — education, town planning and works — saw more male members filing nominations than women.
For the standing committees on education and town planning, eight men and seven women filed nominations. For the standing committee on works, 10 men and five women filed nominations.
With a mandate to complete the election by Friday, the election had to be postponed twice within the day to allow more time to the DMK and its alliance partners to find more women to nominate and a few men to withdraw their nominations.
Before the election commenced again at 5.30 p.m., Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments P.K. Sekarbabu made a brief visit to the Ripon Building and interacted with the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor and other members to sort out the issue.
After the delay, the required number of women filed nominations and a few men withdrew theirs to facilitate the election of 15 members to the standing committee.
