Indrani Ponvasanth is Mayor, T. Nagarajan is Madurai Deputy Mayor
The Hindu
She is the second woman to adorn the post in Madurai Corporation
Indrani Ponvasanth of the DMK was elected the Mayor of Madurai Corporation on Friday. She is the second woman Mayor of Madurai. T. Nagarajan of the CPI(M) was elected the Deputy Mayor.
Corporation Commissioner K.P. Karthikeyan administered the oath of office to the Mayor and Deputy Mayor at the Council Hall in Anna Maaligai at Madurai Corporation building, which was renovated in time for the swearing-in ceremony.
The ceremonial dress and the mace was given to Ms. Indrani in the presence of Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan and Madurai MP Su.Venkatesan. The election to the post of Mayor was held at 9.30 a.m. ,and for the post of Deputy Mayor at 2.30 p.m.
Addressing media persons after the ceremony, Ms. Indrani said that she would put in her best efforts for the development of Madurai. She thanked Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Mr. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan and the people of Madurai for the support.
Mr. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said that after a gap of six years, elections to the urban local bodies were held. Stressing the importance of local bodies and self-governance, he said that the basic needs of the people would be looked into. He said that the DMK had stood for self-respect, social justice, equality and inclusive growth. The party had performed extremely well in the urban local bodies elections and would work for the betterment of the people, he said.
Mr. Venkatesan said that the welfare of the people would be given priority. The Deputy Mayor thanked the people of Madurai and promised to look into the key issues that needed to be redressed.
Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration P. Moorthy was absent at the ceremony. The Chairpersons and the Vice-Chairpersons of the Municipalities and the Town Panchayats also took charge on Friday.
The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.