Race for deputy mayor heats up in municipal corporations

MADURAI: Councillors of three municipal corporations in southern Tamil Nadu are now gearing up to elect deputy mayors, the second coveted post in the urban civic bodies.

Though, the AIADMK is set to grab the posts in all the three corporations - Madurai, Tirunelveli and Tuticorin - the fight is now among the councillors within the party. Caste dynamics are likely to play a key role in the election of the deputy mayor. In Madurai, four people are in the race while in Tirunelveli three councillors - two from the same family are vying for the post. In Tuticorin too, three councillors are in the race.

AIADMK got a majority in the Madurai corporation election and won 77 seats out of the 99 wards for which elections were held. Polls in ward 15 were postponed after AIADMK candidate SP Jebamani died due to illness just before the elections. AIADMK sources said that chief minister J Jayalalithaa has constituted a three member committee comprising state co-operatives minister Sellur K Raju, Madurai urban district secretary AK Bose and newly elected mayor VV Rajan Chellappa to shortlist the candidates for the post of deputy mayor in Madurai corporation.

The committee has already sent a list of eligible candidates to the party high command. Party sources said that 64th ward councilor ST Jayabalan, 76th ward councilor P Salaimuthu and 93rd ward councilor S Raja Sreenivasan are in the race.

ST Jayabalan belongs to the vellalar community, Salaimuthu belongs to the thevar community and Raja Sreenivasan is a brahmin. Even as the three are touted as strong contenders for the post, party men also hint that Jayalalithaa might pick someone else and spring a surprise. "The possibility of a dalit being chosen as depuity mayor is also high. In that case M Mariammal, councilor-elect of ward 35 could also be chosen,'' said a party functionary.

In Tirunelveli, 30 AIADMK councillors have been elected out of the total 55. AIADMK councillors P Jeganathan alias Ganesan, Haidar Ali and P Madhava Ramanujam are in the race for the post of deputy mayor, say party men. Here again, caste is likely to be a factor in deciding the deputy mayor. Interestingly, Jeganathan's brother Subramani, a DMK councillor is reportedly the party's candidate for deputy mayor poll.

In Tuticorin, AIADMK won 28 seats out of 60 councillors, while DMK has 17 councillors, Congress four and BJP one councillor besides ten independents. Since, mayor-elect Sasikala Pushpa belongs to the nadar community, the post of deputy mayor might go to one among Augustin, Xavier and Thitheriammal who belong to a fishing community, who have a strong presence in the region.