COIMBATORE: A cross-section of voters belonging to the Islamic community in two wards in Coimbatore resorted to a partial boycott of the civic elections - voting for the Mayoral candidate but refraining from electing the ward councillors on Monday.The boycott was in response to a call given by the Muslim clergy to go in for the ‘No Vote’ option for the polls for the post of councillors in Kurichi and Kuniamuthur as the seats were reserved for SC/ST.Community leaders claimed that 95 per cent of the minority voters registered the ‘No Vote’ option under Rule 71 of the Tamil Nadu Town Panchayats, Third Grade Municipalities and Municipal Corporation Councils Rules 2006.Justifying this, Shamsul Islam Sunnath Jamath general secretary V A Kabir said “We are not against any community. But no seats are reserved for us in the local bodies. In wards where Muslims are concentrated in large numbers, it would be ideal if we could elect someone from our community so that our concerns could be raised adequately in the Municipal Corporation.
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