HUSBANDS and other family members of women councillors elected during recent local government polls in Tamil Nadu, India, are “running riot” in their constituencies, Makkal Osai reported.
The ruling DMK party, headed by chief minister MK Stalin, enjoyed a good run in the local council elections with a large number of female candidates.
However, following the victory, opposition parties have accused the husbands and family members of the councillors of interfering in their work.
One councillor’s husband in Chennai is apparently trying to run a protection racket, demanding payments from homeowners in the ward who are renovating their houses.
In Tambaram, the brother-in-law of one female councillor, who is also a local DMK youth chief, had reportedly demanded 10,000 rupees (RM550) monthly from restaurant owners in her area.
He has also been accused of thrashing one shop whose owner refused to pay up.
The opposition parties have urged Stalin to intervene in this matter to ensure there is no such interference and misuse of power.
● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ‘ >’sign, it denotes a separate news item.