The promise to hold urban local body (ULB) election finds little mention in manifestos of political parties and one hardly hears about it in campaigns.
While the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee makes a promise to hold ULB election in its manifesto, the DMK president M.K. Stalin has promised to hold urban local body election, at least in his campaign and that seems to be the end of it.
With the term of last ULB coming to an end in 2016, the AIADMK government has not conducted election. After the DMK approached the judiciary over the State Government’s delimitation and reservation and after the Supreme Court ruling on the issue, the Government conducted election in two phases for rural local bodies in December 2019.
The people’s expectation was that the State Government would follow it up with election to ULBs but that did not happen, COVID-19 pandemic being cited as one of the reasons for the delay.
Now with the Assembly election only a fortnight away, the people’s expectation was that the political parties would come out in the open and talk about it.
The DMK manifesto, while making several promises like not increasing property tax, is silent on the conduct of ULB election.
DMK leaders in Coimbatore said, on condition of anonymity, that though the party had not mentioned it in its manifesto, party president M.K. Stalin had spoken about it in his campaigns and the party would conduct election on returning to power.
AIADMK sources, too, made similar assurances. The AIADMK government was ready to conduct election but the COVID-19 pandemic came in the way. If the party were to return to power, it would hold the election.
A senior politician, however, said the AIADMK or DMK conducting ULB election depended on how much they got. If one of the two got a brute majority in the Assembly, it would become confident on holding the election as the calculation would be that it could ride on the victory wave to win local bodies as well.
If one of the two had a wafer-thin majority or was forced to seek the support of allies to secure a majority in the Assembly, then it would be doubtful, the politician added.
That the State Government had failed to conduct the ULB election had impacted people in that they found it difficult to have their day-to-day grievances related to civic amenities redressed, said consumer activist K. Kathirmathiyon.
Besides, the Government giving special officer (elected council) powers to the commissioners had placed the officers in a position that they had both, the power of executive as well as legislature. And, this had led to an opaque administration, particularly in Coimbatore, where the people were in dark about council resolutions, he pointed out and added that political parties should come out in the open and promise to hold ULB election within a specific time-frame.
