CHENNAI: A new fight has started in Salem district over the location of a new district's headquarters, which will be either Attur, Mettur, or Edappadi. When K. Palaniswami was the chief minister, the AIADMK government pushed for Edappadi to be the district headquarters. PMK, on the other hand, has stated that it wants a new district, Mettur.
The Kongu Nadu Makkal Desiya Katchi (KMDK), a DMK affiliate, has already passed a resolution calling for Attur to be the capital of the new Salem district. Attur is 50 kilometres from Salem, and there have been claims for Attur to be the district headquarters for the past decade, until K. Palaniswami became Chief Minister in 2017, when he called for Edappadi to be the new district headquarters.
According to K. Karthikeyan, a social activist and the Chairman of the Salem Peoples Group, "The suggestion that Attur serve as the administrative centre for the new district that would be created from Salem is logical. Unless Salem district is trifurcated, it will be difficult to make Edappadi the district headquarters." However, E.R. Eswaran, a Kongu Nadu Makkal Desiya Katchi (KMDK) MLA, has sent a memorandum about the issue to state municipal administration minister K.N. Nehru, who has promised to take up the subject with Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.