Krishnagiri Municipality Chairperson ousted in no-confidence motion moved by DMK party councillors

The Chairperson of Krishnagiri Municipality, Farida Nawab, belonging to the DMK, was on Monday (November 10, 2025) ousted from her post through a no-confidence motion brought in by her own party councillors. Of the 33 councillors, 27 including an AIADMK member, voted in favour of the motion. The DMK councillors had alleged that Ms. Nawab was “disrupting the works of the councillors and acting against the interest of the municipality and the government.”

In mid-October, the DMK members had petitioned the Commissioner of Krishnagiri Municipality B. Sathish Kumar, calling for a no-confidence motion against her.

P.Ashok Kumar, Regional Director of Municipal Administration, told The Hindu thatthe no-confidence motion was allowed by the Commissioner under Section 51 (12), of the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act, 1998. The sections deal with the confidence motions against the Chairperson and the Vice-Chairperson of the Municipal council. “As per the Act, the arrangements for the meeting including the ballot sheets, CCTV cameras were supervised and monitored by me,” he said.

The 33 member Municipal Council has 22 DMK members including the chairperson, 5 AIADMK councillors, four independents, and one member each from the Congress and the BJP.

Of the 27 councillors who voted in favour of the motion, 21 were from DMK, four Independents, and one each from the Congress and AIADMK.

Mr. Kumar told The Hindu, “I will forward the resolution along with the minutes of the meeting to the government. The government will make the gazette notification, upon which the seat of the Chairperson will become vacant.”

High drama

The run up to the no-confidence motion mimicked a high-stakes election, with the DMK councillors along with the independents taking-off for a weekend retreat to Ooty, and brought back in a bus at the eleventh hour for the no-confidence motion on Monday. The AIADMK’s 9th ward member was picked up in Krishnagiri in the same bus.

As the bus entered the Municipality premises, other AIADMK councillors slammed one of the windows of the bus alleging their Ward 9 councillor was “bought off” by the DMK. The window broke in the impact.

The councillor in question, Nagajothi, however said that she was voting in favour of the motion only in the interest of the electors of her ward.

The melee saw the AIADMK blockading, demanding Ms. Nagajothi to convince them that she was not “forced or abducted” into joining the DMK’s ranks for the voting. Police held talks with the AIADMK protesters, who raised slogans against the police alleging partisanship.