Chennai: Ahead of the local body elections, the state govt has asked state election commissioner Jothi Nirmalasamy to resign, sources told TOI.The move comes days after the govt asked chairpersons and members of several other state bodies to step down, fuelling criticism that C Joseph Vijay’s govt is seeking to purge institution heads appointed by the previous DMK govt.Nirmalasamy was appointed in March 2024 for a five-year term. Unlike regular boards and corporations, state election commission enjoys constitutional protection. “Though asked to resign, she seems interested in continuing to complete the work she has initiated for the ensuing local body elections,” said an official aware of the development.The commission headed by Nirmalasamy is in the process of introducing electronic voting machines for the upcoming rural local body elections in a phased manner. It purchased 50,000 machines from BHEL to begin the rollout, which would allow voters to cast four votes electronically.After the intervention of the TVK govt, former chief secretary Shiv Das Meena, former DGP Shankar Jiwal and R Manivannan recently stepped down as chairpersons of Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority, Tamil Nadu Fire Commission and Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission, respectively.Nirmalasamy also chairs the delimitation commission, a quasi-judicial body engaged in the ongoing delimitation of local bodies, a process that precedes local body elections. The tenure of rural local bodies in 28 districts ended on Jan 1 last year, while the tenure of those in nine other districts will end on Oct 19 this year. The tenure of all urban local bodies will end on March 1 next year.Nirmalasamy had been overseeing delimitation work in 27 districts, including four municipal corporations, 12 municipal councils and several rural panchayats. “This has not happened anywhere in the country,” said an official. “The Constitution says a state election commissioner shall not be removed from office except in the manner and on the same grounds as a judge of a high court is removed,” an official said.Nirmalasamy is the only IAS officer to have received the state govt’s Kalpana Chawla Award for courage and daring enterprise. She was given the award in 2008 for her stringent action against the sand mafia in Kanyakumari district. Nirmalasamy could not be reached for comment.EOM//
