His wife has voted in favour of DMK in Periyakulam Union
The Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) high command sacked a union secretary Kannan in Periyakulam after his wife Packiam, a ward councillor, allegedly voted in favour of the DMK candidate in the indirect election held for the Chairman post.
The Periyakulam Union has 16 wards. The general elections to the rural local bodies were held in 2019 in which the DMK bagged 8 seats, AIADMK: 6, AMMK and DMDK bagged one each.
As per the laws, the chairman and vice-chairman had to be elected by the ward councillors in an indirect election. However, since the general election was held, the officials claimed that they had to cancel the election thrice for want of quorum, among other reasons.
In the meantime, the DMK councillor Selvam switched loyalty to the AIADMK after which DMK’s tally reduced to 7. When a councillor Thangavel (DMK) approached the Madras High Court Bench, Madurai, the court directed the officials to conduct the election by Feb 15, in which Thangavel got elected with the support of DMDK and the AMMK councillors, thus defeating the DMK candidate.
After the news reached, the DMDK, which is in the alliance of the AIADMK, sacked the councillor’s husband Kannan from the party.
However, the AIADMK functionaries and the councillors from the Periyakulam Union have taken up the issue with party coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam. ‘Sacking the functionary was insufficient….the DMDK, which is in the company of the AIADMK front, cannot vote against the party and then come with lame excuses,’ they said.
With Mr. Panneerselvam in town, the issue was expected to snowball further, party cadre said. However, senior party functionaries attempted to play it down stating that the high command is aware of the development, but wouldn’t blow it up further as the general election was fast approaching.
Source: Read Full Article