Annoyed over the partiality shown by the Mayor (in-charge), the DMK councillors have written to their party high command to expedite possibilities of filling up the vacant Mayor’s post.
| Photo Credit: File Photo
The DMK, which holds 67 of the 100 councillor seats in Madurai Corporation, is keen to get the Mayor post for its party. However, the DMK high command appears to be in no mood to take it up right now.After the resignation of Indrani Pon Vasanth as Mayor, the Corporation Council meetings were presided over by Deputy Mayor T. Nagarajan of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).As the CPI(M) was then an ally of the DMK, there was no big issue in Mr. Nagarajan continuing as the Mayor (in-charge). However, following the change in political equations after the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) formed the government, of which CPI(M) now an ally, the DMK councillors have shown interest in filling up the Mayor’s post.PossibilitiesIn the existing council, the TVK does not have any members. Only the newly elected MLAs from the city jurisdiction - (Madurai North, Madurai West, and Madurai East) have been attending the council meeting and voicing their concerns about the plight of the city’s upkeep and attributing it to the DMK’s poor performance.Annoyed over the partiality shown by the Mayor (in-charge) in giving more space for the TVK MLAs, the DMK Councillors have written to their party high command to immediately explore the possibilities of filling up the vacant Mayor’s post.A senior official in the Municipal Administration said that the election to the Mayor in all the Corporations was conducted indirectly in 2022.However, after Ms. Indrani Pon Vasanth resigned, the vacancy could have been filled then. However, the DMK government did not do so, due to intra-party reasons. Today, the TVK government may not been keen to fill up the vacancy, which means, it gives an opportunity or an upper hand to the DMK to rule the city. Instead, the TVK leaders may prefer to have the existing arrangement until the urban local body elections, scheduled to be held next year in all the cities, the official added.A senior DMK functionary, who was a Minister in the previous regime, said that the party high command was keen to work for the next local body polls more effectively than on filling up the vacant Mayor’s post. In the present circumstances, the DMK members in the council should voice in the meetings, he opined.However, one of the Councillors, a signatory to the memorandum submitted to the DMK, said that with the change in government, the Mayor post in Madurai alone would give some visibility to the party. Like in other cities, the DMK should get its Mayor. “Let it be anyone from the 67 council members. We cannot allow the present Mayor (in-charge) to act or preside as the Mayor,” he said. Published - July 02, 2026 08:33 pm IST
