AIADMK candidate Pon. Manibaskaran was elected as the district panchayat chairman and A. Saraswathi, also of the party, was elected as the vice-chairperson by draw of lots here on Friday.
The election of 16 councillors was held in December 2019. The AIADMK and the DMK (including its allies Congress and Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi) had won eight seats each.
Hence, officials planned to draw lots to select the chairman and the vice-chairman. They scheduled the election of chairman for January 11, January 30 and March 4. But it had to be postponed for various reasons, including the lack of quorum on account of the absence of AIADMK councillors.
Suspecting foul play, the DMK members wrote to the State Election Commissioner about the “undue” delay.
Curbs due to COVID-19
The officials then said the election would be held on December 4 and clarified that it could not be held since March because of the restrictions imposed to curb COVID-19.
Again, as Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s visit to the district was announced on December 4, the officials notified a new date — December 11 — for the election.
In the presence of District Returning Officer and Collector P. Madhusudan Reddy and the councillors, the election was held by draw of lots.
In the evening, Mr. Pon. Manibaskaran and Ms. Saraswathi were sworn in by the Collector, a press release said.
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