SALEM: Salem Municipal Corporation’s council meeting on Wednesday turned chaotic after AIADMK councillors staged a dharna inside the council hall to oppose a govt order to hand over drinking water distribution to private operators. Councillors said the council had earlier passed a resolution against privatisation. They demanded the withdrawal of the GO. They wanted mayor A Ramachandran and the corporation commissioner Lalitaditya Neelam to respond to their demand. The protest escalated when the councillors sat in front of the mayor’s chair and said their agitation would continue till the privatisation order was revoked. After the commissioner assured them that the council’s demands would be forwarded to the govt, the protest was temporarily withdrawn.AIADMK councillors later returned to the hall and alleged that the administration routinely ignored council resolutions, triggering another round of uproar. The session ended amid noisy arguments between AIADMK and DMK councillors.Meanwhile, deputy mayor and Congress city district president M Saradha Devi alleged that while she was away in Chennai for a party training session, the mayor had removed the deputy mayor’s seat from the dais, undermining the dignity of her office.“I am the first woman deputy mayor of the Salem corporation. I have been subjected to mental distress by mayor Ramachandran’s actions. Instead of addressing the people’s problems raised in the council, he focused on removing my seat. This is unjust and disrespectful. A mayor who refuses to respect the deputy mayor, especially a woman, has no moral right to continue in office. I demand his resignation,” Saradha Devi said.
