Tension gripped the Thiruvarankulam panchayat union office in the district on Monday after two factions of the DMK came to blows while trying to win over some newly-elected councillors for the selection of the panchayat union chairperson.
The incident took place after the panchayat union councillors took oath.
The Thiruvarankulam panchayat union has 25 councillors, 14 of whom are with the DMK. The AIADMK has six councillors, while the Congress, the CPI and the MDMK have one councillor each. There are two Independent councillors. The tussle broke out over the selection of the panchayat union chairperson — a post that had been allocated to a woman. It involved DMK factions led by Thiruvarankulam West union secretary K.P.K.T. Thangamani and East union secretary Gnana Ilangovan.
Both Mr. Thangamani and Mr. Ilangovan were trying to drum up support for their wives. The police said the trouble began soon after the oath-taking ceremony. Both factions tried to win over party councillors, those belonging to alliance partners and Independent councillors, leading to a verbal duel. One of the factions tried to take the councillors away in a car, which was stopped by the other faction. Members of the two factions then came to blows. Following police intervention, they dispersed from the spot. As a precautionary measure, police personnel were deployed at the union office. A case against both the factions was registered at the Alangudi police station.
