Landslide win for DMK alliance in TN rural local body polls

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the ruling party in Tamil Nadu, and its alliance partners have scored a landslide win in the elections held to rural local bodies in nine districts decimating the AIADMK-BJP alliance.

The ruling party was on the course to bagging all nine district panchayats and over 90 per cent of the union panchayats that went to elections on October 6 and 9. Results were not declared by the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission (TNSEC) till the time of writing.

Of the 140 district wards, the DMK alliance won 138, leaving just two seats to the principal Opposition party, AIADMK, which put up a spirited performance in the April 6 assembly elections by winning 66 seats despite facing 10 years of anti-incumbency. The party won one each district ward in Chengalpattu and Villupuram, while it drew a blank in Kanchipuram, Ranipet, Tiruppattur, Tirunelveli, Kallakurichi, Vellore, and Tenkasi.

AIADMK’s performance in union panchayat elections was also dismal with the party emerging victorious or was leading in just 218 of the total 1,381 seats. The DMK alliance won or was leading in over 1,000 wards and the PMK, which walked out of the AIADMK alliance, winning 44 seats. BJP won 8 union wards.

While Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) of actor Kamal Haasan and Seeman’s Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK) could not win any district or union wards, AMMK of T T V Dhinakaran registered a win in 5 seats and DMDK of actor Vijayakant in just one ward. Independents won 88 seats.

AIADMK’s disastrous performance is blamed on the party’s “lack of interest” in the elections and the infighting owing to the dual leadership. Though party joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami visited all the districts that went to the polls to meet cadres, the AIADMK could not make its presence felt in many districts.

The party might now come under pressure to revert to singular leadership, and the results are likely to influence the elections to urban local bodies expected to be held by the end of the year.

An upbeat Chief Minister M K Stalin said the resounding victory that the DMK and its alliance partners have scored in the elections to rural local bodies in nine districts is a “recognition for the five-month-old government.”

“Not just for continuing the good work, the recognition is also for the achievements in the last five months,” he said.

Recalling that the second wave of Covid-19 infection was sweeping the state when DMK assumed office, Stalin said the new government not just brought the Covid-19 cases under the control but also ensured that the livelihood of people is not affected.

“I have been saying that the popularity of DMK has increased after the assembly elections and the results of the election have proved me right,” he said.

However, AIADMK, cried foul and blamed the DMK’s “high-handedness” for the party’s defeat in the local body elections. In a joint statement, party coordinator O Panneerselvam and joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami said the DMK cadre indulged in violence and termed the victory as one through the “backdoor.”

“The DMK reduced the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission into its puppet,” Panneerselvam and Palaniswami said.

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