Local body polls peaceful in Villupuram, Kallakurichi
The Hindu
1,400 voters of Ponnankuppam village in Gingee union boycott the election
The first phase of elections to rural local bodies in Villupuram and Kallakurichi districts passed off peacefully on Wednesday.
Villupuram district registered an overall turnout of 61.04% at 3 p.m. while Kallakurichi district recorded 61.31% as of 4 p.m.
The initial phase covered 11 panchayat unions — seven in Villupuram and four in Kallakurichi. As many as 15,325 contestants are in the fray for 4,998 posts in the two districts. Elections were held to 25 district panchayat wards, 247 panchayat union wards, 575 village pancahyats and 4,151 village panchayat wards in the first phase.
In 2021, five women from Mayithara, four of them MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers, found a common ground in their desire to create a sustainable livelihood by growing vegetables. Rajamma M., Mary Varkey, Valsala L., Elisho S., and Praseeda Sumesh, aged between 70 and 39, pooled their savings, rented a piece of land and began their collective vegetable farming journey under the Deepam Krishi group.