Chennai,  Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin has urged party district secretaries to provide more seats to the women wing functionaries in the upcoming urban local body elections to be held on February 19.

Interacting with the party district secretaries through video conferencing, Stalin stressed that more women functionaries be considered for the urban local body polls. This, according to the DMK insiders, was a move by the Chief Minister to prevent leaders from putting their wives and close relatives as the party candidates in seats reserved for women.

It is to be noted that 50 per cent of the seats in urban local body elections are reserved for women, and in DMK and AIADMK it has become a regular practice for the district office-bearers preferring their wives and other close relatives instead of other women functionaries.

The Chief Minister also directed the party district secretaries, the district in-charges, and other senior leaders to settle issues if any with the coalition partners and to effect seat-sharing with them immediately.

Stalin also called upon the party leaders to highlight the performance of the DMK government before the people as well as to focus on the welfare measures initiated and executed by the government.

A senior leader of the DMK while speaking to IANS said, "The decision of the Chief Minister is highly commendable. Generally in DMK, the district level office-bearers of the party allocate seats reserved for women to their wives or close relatives, including sisters and cousins. This decision will help strengthen the party at the grassroots level among the women leaders and with women party functionaries also getting an opportunity to contest the elections, the party will gain strength in leaps and bounds."