Tamil Nadu: Stage set for corporation elections

Around 58,000 candidates in fray for over 12,500 ward member posts

ITDC INDIA EPREES/ ITDC NEWS R After more than a decade, the people of Tamil Nadu are all set to vote to elect their local body representatives on Saturday. Elections will be held to 21 corporations, 138 municipalities and 489 town panchayats. The state will get its new Mayors and ward councillors on February 22. The last elections for corporations, municipalities and town panchayats was held in 2011 during the AIADMK regime.

Since then, at least nine new districts have been created in Tamil Nadu for administrative purposes. Several town panchayats and municipalities have also been upgraded to new corporations. There are 12,738 ward member posts in these 649 urban local bodies. After the State Election Commission (SEC) notified elections to the urban local bodies, around 58,000 candidates filed nominations. Around 2.83 crore voters - 1.44 crore women and 1.38 crore men and 4,702 transpersons - are set to cast their vote.

Chennai and Tambaram corporations, for the first time, have been reserved for SC women. Of the 58,000 candidates, 218 have been elected unopposed. The elections to Kadambur town panchayat has been cancelled due to poll violations. Also, no nomination was filed in ward number 8 Kanadukathan, in Sivaganga.

On March 4, the elections for chiefs of urban local bodies will be conducted, where the ward councillors will elect the Mayor.

The campaign for the local body polls ended on Thursday. It is an eight-cornered contest this time, with the DMK and its allies, AIADMK, BJP, Kamal Hassan’s MNM, Seeman’s NTK, Dr S. Ramadoss’s PMK, TTV Dhinakaran’s AMMK and Vijayakanth’s DMDK fielding their candidates. While DMK and the AIADMK are in straight contest in almost all the corporations, the BJP which has been pitching itself as the opposition in the state has fielded 40 per cent candidates only.