Coimbatore and Tirunelveli Corporations’ Mayors belonging to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) submitted their resignations on Wednesday, July 3. Tirunelveli Mayor’s resignation comes after the council in January passed a no-confidence motion against the Mayor- a first time in the history of Tirunelveli corporation wherein a no-confidence motion was passed against a ruling party Mayor by ruling party councillors. The Coimbatore Mayor, meanwhile, has cited her health condition as the reason for tendering her resignation.

PM Saravanan, Mayor of Tirunelveli Municipal corporation, tendered his resignation to the Commissioner Shubham Dnyandeorao Thakare. Although Saravanan was voted by the council as the Mayor in 2022, sources from the DMK told TNM that several councillors were unhappy with the Mayor’s administration. The council therefore passed a no-confidence motion after not showing up for a council meeting on January 12, 2024. 

A source added that the DMK high command had, prior to the Lok Sabha elections, taken note of this and had asked the council to sort out their differences. However, the issues remained unresolved. 

Similarly, Kalpana Anandakumar, the Mayor of Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation, who submitted her resignation to M Sivaguru Prabhakaran, was also criticised by her own party men in the council. Although she has stated her health condition as the reason for resigning and had even recently visited Chennai for a treatment, sources from the DMK told TNM that the councillors in Coimbatore were unhappy with Kalpana as her husband Anandakumar, a member of the district committee of the DMK, has allegedly been interfering with and taking over Kalpana’s duties. Prior to the Lok Sabha elections, this council was also asked to resolve issues, but they however, also failed to make amends, the source added.