Former MP’s appeal to LS Speaker on local body polls

Former Member of Parliament and Puducherry Maanila Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (MMMK) president M. Ramadass has appealed to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to call upon the Puducherry government to expedite the modalities of holding local body elections in the Union Territory.

In a statement, Mr. Ramadass pointed out that the Speaker had, in connection with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, India Region in Delhi, opined that Parliamentary and legislative sessions are held on pre determined dates in a year.

Local bodies, the Speaker noted, should also organise local body sessions for which State Assemblies should pass necessary Bills and regulations. This would provide a precious opportunity to the representatives of local people to discuss their problems in an orderly setting.

Welcoming the idea, Mr. Ramadass sought to draw attention to the fact that the last local body elections were held in Puducherry in 2006. For almost 13 years, under some pretext or other, successive dispensations have deferred the process to put in place the third tier of governance in violation of Constitutional provisions articulated in Articles 40, 243 and the 73rd and 74th amendments.

He appealed to the Speaker to immediately call upon the government of Puducherry to complete the long pending OBC identification in local wards and expedite the process to elect 1,174 representatives across 10 municipalities, 116 municipal wards, 10 commune panchayats and 108 gram panchayats.

Published - October 03, 2024 11:51 pm IST