Draw of lots may decide Kottayam municipal chief
The Hindu
LDF and UDF, which share 22 seats each, seem unwilling to align with the NDA
With the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) sharing an equal number of seats in the Kottayam municipal council, luck will once again play its part in the election of the civic body’s new chairperson on Monday.
With both sides not in a position to find a way out of the stalemate, the winner is expected to be decided through a draw of lots. While Bincy Sebastian, former chairperson who was ousted through a no-confidence motion a month and a half ago, will once again be the UDF candidate, the LDF will field its senior councillor Sheeja Anil. The BJP, meanwhile, may field Reeba Varkey.
In the urban body that has 52 seats, the UDF and the LDF have 22 seats each. Hence, the stance of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that has eight seats in the council becomes decisive. But with both the fronts unwilling to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition, in all likelihood, the NDA candidate will be defeated in the first round and the winner will decided in the next round through draw of lots.
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi founder and Chidambaram M.P., Thol. Thirumavalavan, on Friday recalled the arduous journey of steering the party through the transition from being a radical organisation whose slogan was ‘Adanga Maru, Aththu Meeru, Thimiri Ezhu, Thiruppi Adi’ (Don’t bow down, disobey, rise up and hit back) to become an important cog in the wheel of electoral politics in Tamil Nadu today as VCK, with four MLAs and two MPs, is set to be recognised by the Election Commission of India as a ‘state party’.
Amid strike by some Loco Pilots, Railways is trying to ensure undisrupted service: Palakkad Division
The Palakkad Division of Southern Railway on Friday, said it was making all efforts to keep trains running in time amid a section of Loco Pilots continuing to strike from work with a demand for a 46-hour periodical rest.
After completing her Class XII a few years ago, Lakshmi Priya from Sivakasi faced financial constraints that prevented her from pursuing higher education. Despite her circumstances, she persevered by folding matchboxes to earn a meagre income. “I have always done this work – folding matchboxes. Many families in Sivakasi and surrounding areas do this work, from home,” said Ms.Priya who is now 19 years old. “I always wanted to learn something related to Computer Science. We did not have a proper teacher for this particular subject at school. But I managed to score 95%,” she said.
Ahead of the southwest monsoon, the officials from multiple departments were directed to carry out the standard operating procedure and ensure that all the parameters were adhered to as per the guidelines issued by the Disaster Management Plan of the Tamil Nadu government, said Theni Collector R.V. Shajeevana here on Friday.