Chennai: Amid noisy scenes and walkout by Opposition DMK members, the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday passed a bill that paves the way for indirect elections to chairmen of municipalities and presidents of town panchayats in the state.
The bill, Tamil Nadu District Municipalities (Amendment) Act, 2016, moved by Municipal Administration Minister S.P. Velumani on August 29 was passed amid stiff opposition and walkout by the DMK.
Under the present system, chairpersons in urban local bodies like municipalities are elected directly by the people and the government introduced the bill for indirect elections.
The DMK members, who were involved in a noisy protest against Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s remarks against Leader of Opposition MK Stalin earlier in the day, paused briefly to discuss the bill with its Tambaram MLA S.R. Raja debating on it.
While Mr Raja argued that the present system of the people directly electing their municipal chairman should continue, Congress Legislature Party leader KR Ramasamy, who raised apprehensions of horse-trading, also opposed the bill.
However, responding to the speeches of the Opposition members, Mr Velumani insisted that such a system was already in vogue in the other states, including Gujarat, and ruled out the possibility of “foul play”.
While the DMK insisted on a ‘division’ (voting), Speaker P. Dhanapal ruled it out and went for a voice vote. “Division is not required,” he said, adding that the ruling party had the adequate strength to pass the bill.
The Treasury benches, which outnumber the opposition comprising the DMK, the Congress and the IUML, passed the bill with a loud 'yes' in Tamil when the Speaker went for the voice vote. In June, the Assembly had passed a bill paving the way for indirect election of Mayors, replacing the system of the people electing their corporation heads.
