Bill paving way for indirect election of chairpersons passed

Amid opposition from the DMK, a bill paving the way for indirect election of chairpersons of urban local bodies in Tamil Nadu, on the lines of Mayoral elections, was today passed by the Assembly.
The AIADMK-dominated House passed the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities (Amendment) Act, 2016,moved by Municipal Administration Minister SP Velumani on August 29.
Under the present system, chairpersons in urban local bodies like municipalities are elected directly by the people.
The government had made the proposal, contending that in some cases, the chairpersons did not get the cooperation of the councillors and vice-versa, leading to "impediments in the proceedings of councils and to arrive at a consensus in passing resolutions to provide civic services to the public as both the chairmen and the councillors are elected directly".

"As such, in order to have a uniform election procedure in all the urban local bodies in the state, the government has decided to elect the chairmen of municipalities and town panchayats indirectly by the councillors or the members from among themselves as the case may be," the bill said.
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 member SR Raja debating on it.

Raja argued that the present system of the people directly electing their municipal chairman should continue.

Congress Legislature Party leader KR Ramaswamy, who raised apprehensions of horse-trading, also opposed the bill.
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.
The House also passed some other bills, including the Tamil Nadu Music and Fine Arts (Amendment) Act, 2016, to give representation to its affiliated colleges in the Syndicate and Academic Council of the university.