Indirect election suspended in three town panchayats

Coimbatore: Executive officer N Balasubramani of Vellalore town panchayat on Friday suspended the indirect election to elect the president and vice-president until further order.
Vellalore town panchayat has 15 wards. AIADMK had won eight seats, DMK six seats and an independent candidate won a seat.
On Friday morning, eight AIADMK councillors entered the town panchayat office.“Six DMK councillors and the independent councillor, who supported DMK, were present at the office. The DMK councillors picked up a verbal quarrel with the AIADMK councillors and did not allow them to participate in the indirect election. Due to the unrest, the executive officer of the panchayat suspended the indirect election,” a source said. The AIADMK men, led by former minister SP Velumani, met police commissioner Pradip Kumar and submitted a petition against the DMK councillors. They also submitted a petition to Coimbatore collector G S Sameeran.
Rowdies brought by DMK from Karur attacked the AIADMK councillors when they were heading towards the Vellalore town panchayat on Friday morning, Velumani said. “They also damaged a vehicle carrying AIADMK councillors. The Madras high court had ordered police to provide adequate protection to AIADMK councillors. But police failed to do so. We will lodge a contempt of court petition soon,” he said.
The city police deployed 100 cops to prevent any untoward incidents. Due to the tense situation, executive officers of Annur and Suleeswaranpatti also suspended the indirect election until further order. Indirect election to elect the chairman and vice-chairman of Valparai municipality was also suspended.TNN