COIMBATORE: High drama unfolded at the Salem Corporation council meeting on Friday as Mayor A Ramachandran and Deputy Mayor M Saradha Devi staged rival sit-in protests over a dispute concerning their seating arrangements.

The confrontation began soon after the meeting commenced around 11.30 am, when Mayor Ramachandran of the DMK objected to the chair designated for Deputy Mayor Saradha Devi of the Congress being placed beside him in the council hall. The chair had previously been positioned in the area meant for councillors.

Visibly upset over the arrangement, the Mayor staged a sit-in in the area where the councillors were seated. In response, Saradha Devi also staged a sit-in protest, escalating tensions inside the council hall. DMK councillors raised slogans demanding that the Deputy Mayor’s chair be removed.

As the situation intensified, Corporation Commissioner Lalitaditya Neelam held discussions with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor in the Mayor’s chamber in an attempt to resolve the dispute. However, the meeting failed to break the deadlock.

Saradha Devi subsequently walked out of the chamber, alleging that she was being pressured to give up her stand, and resumed her protest. The Mayor later returned to the council hall and ordered the eviction of the Deputy Mayor's supporters. Police personnel escorted them out of the hall.

Ramachandran also announced that Saradha Devi had been suspended for two months. The Deputy Mayor, however, challenged the announcement, contending that the Mayor lacked the authority to suspend her. The council meeting subsequently concluded, with the Mayor declaring that all the resolutions listed for the day had been passed.