No-confidence motion passed against Krishnagiri municipal chairwoman

KRISHNAGIRI: The Krishnagiri municipal council on Monday passed a no-confidence motion against municipal chairwoman Faridha Nawab of the DMK with the support of 27 councillors.The municipality has 33 wards represented by 22 DMK councillors, five AIADMK councillors, one Congress councillor, one BJP councillor and four DMK-supported independents. On Oct 16, a total of 23 DMK and DMK-supported independent councillors submitted complaints to municipal commissioner Sathish Kumar, alleging that the chairwoman’s actions were against the municipality and the govt. The commissioner announced that a vote on the no-confidence motion would be held on Nov 10.Twenty DMK councillors travelled to Ooty to avoid peace talks. At 10am on Monday, 21 of the 22 DMK councillors (excluding the chairwoman), four DMK-supported independents, one Congress councillor and AIADMK councillor Nagajyothi were brought to the municipal office on an omnibus. AIADMK members led by party Krishnagiri town secretary Kesavan laid a siege to the municipality building, accusing the DMK of kidnapping their party councillor.

They broke a side windshield of the omnibus. Councillor Matheen suffered injuries in the incident. DMK councillor Ayesha fainted and received treatment.AIADMK MLA Ashok Kumar demanded that the party’s councillor be allowed to leave. He said that if councillor Nagajyothi confirmed that she was attending the meeting on her own will, the party member would disperse. The councillor stated that she was acting voluntarily and that no one had kidnapped her.

The commissioner said he had asked her opinion before sending her inside. The protest led by Ashok Kumar MLA continued for 20 more minutes.The municipal office doors were closed. At 11am, commissioner Sathish Kumar presided over the vote, supervised by Salem zonal commissioner for municipal administration Ashok Kumar. After a two-hour debate, the councillors voted. Commissioner Sathish Kumar counted the votes and announced that 27 councillors supported the no-confidence motion. The resolution would be sent to the govt, which would formally announce the date for the election of a new chairperson.