In politices any thing can happen
The Veerakeralam Town Panchayat in the suburbs is witnessing a stand off between the town panchayat president V.T. Bakthavathsalam and vice-president P. Kathiresan.Rival groups have traded charges of attempts to misappropriate funds. The president belongs to the Congress party and the vice-president is a member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.While these members of the alliance parties are at each other’s throats, curiously, some All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam members are reported to have joined hands with the vice-president to submit a petition to District Collector Neeraj Mittal, expressing lack of confidence in the president.Just as the suburb gears for development works in the recently regularised unapproved layouts, improve the conditions in the others and also looks for ways to step up drinking water supply, 10 elected members of the local body led by Mr. Kathiresan submitted the petition recently.The members were planning to vote the president out. The petition said the president was not fit to continue in the post because he had been involved in irregularities and had been impeding development works in Veerakeralam. The petition, signed by the members, alleged that the president had not implemented any development work for which tenders had been submitted before he assumed office.
The members also alleged that there was no discussion of development works or on the revenue and expenditure position at the town panchayat meetings.Reacting to the charges, Mr. Bakthavathsalam said he had always played by the rule and this had earned him the displeasure of the vice-president and a few others.“I have applied the rules strictly and made it clear that no room can be given for misappropriation of funds or corruption. The petition is in retaliation to my efforts at preventing any activity that will tarnish the image of the town panchayat,” he said.“I have not done any wrong. The people are with me,” he claimed.
