CHENNAI: A high-level meeting of party functionaries of the ruling All India Anna Dravaida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) is scheduled here for November 6, which will mainly discuss the coming elections to Local Bodies in Tamil Nadu.
To be jointly chaired by the party coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and co-coordinator and Chief Minister, Edappadi K Palaniswami, the AIADMK meet comes at a crucial time as the State Election Commission (SEC), mandated to hold the elections to rural and urban local bodies, all set to present the election schedule to the High Court and Supreme court on Monday or Tuesday. The court will then direct the holding of the polls, sources told DC.
“Almost, everything is ready from the SEC side and it is learnt that they have drawn up a three-phase schedule for the Panchayati Raj and Nagarpalika bodies elections in three phases in early December 2019,” sources requesting anonymity said.
While for the urban local bodies including election to Mayors of municipal corporations, councillors, chairmen of municipalities, ward members and chairmen of town panchayats, the SEC will this time use electronic voting machines (EVM)s’, for elections to village panchayats and panchayat unions, it will be through printed ballots. For that purpose, ballot papers were being printed in five colours, the sources said.
The SEC will submit all the details to the High Court, including reservation of wards for women, SC and ST sections, so that the poll body cannot be blamed any further for not holding the elections, the sources added.
It is in this backdrop and buoyed by its two recent Assembly by-election victories from Vikravandi and Nanguneri, that the AIADMK is now fully confident to meet the local bodies’ elections and hence the high-level party meeting on November 6 at the party headquarters on Avvai Shanmugam Salai in Chennai. Moreover, Mr. Panneerselvam is scheduled to go to USA for ten days from November 7.
The AIADMK meeting, to be also attended by senior party functionaries including Madhusudhanan, MPs’, MLAs’, district secretaries and others, will discuss all aspects related to Local Bodies polls including seat-sharing with the party's allies for all posts contested on party lines. Separate committees are expected to be set up at the meeting which will discuss various aspects with AIADMK’s allies.
Mr. Palaniswami is faced with tough choices as the AIADMK allies, notably, PMK, DMDK and BJP, demanding a good deal in sharing of seats, sources said. The BJP itself is demanding two Mayors posts, and PMK is demanding six to seven Mayors posts, they said. The Chief Minister, however, is keen that AIADMK should get a chunk of all winnable seats at all levels. He is learnt to be mulling a 65:35 ratio for AIADMK /allies respectively in seat-sharing, though no official confirmation as yet.
DMK GENERAL COUNCIL: The main opposition DMK has already called for its general council meeting in Chennai on November 10 with MK Stalin presiding. The party would not only discuss its twin Assembly by-poll failures, but also more extensively the Local Bodies elections, sources said. Also, with Prof K Anbazhagan not keeping well, the party would also consider alternatives to who could hold the general secretary’s post additionally, or any other acceptable arrangement.
