Tamil Nadu parties prepare for local urban body elections

Elections to posts in town panchayats, municipalities, and corporations expected to be held by December-end or January 2022

Political parties in Tamil Nadu have started preparing for urban local bodies' elections, which are expected to be held by December-end or January 2022.

This will be the first statewide elections since the April assembly polls that saw the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) storm to power after a decade.

The elections are expected to serve as an indicator of the performance of the seven-month-old MK Stalin-led DMK government in the state. Elections to urban local bodies in Tamil Nadu are being held for the first time in five years, as the then AIADMK government had conducted elections only for local bodies in rural areas in 2019.

Sources said the elections are likely to be held by the end of December or early January.

DMK, which is banking on the “popularity” of Stalin and his government, is upbeat about its performance and is likely to bargain tough with its alliance partners in seat-sharing to town panchayats, municipalities, and corporations. The party is likely to focus on the “achievements” of the government in the past seven months to seek votes.

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Principal Opposition AIADMK will be under pressure to perform better after its disastrous performance in the rural local bodies' elections held in October.

The party, which is witnessing a factional war between its leaders O Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami, also faces a challenge from its ousted General Secretary VK Sasikala. Also, the AIADMK is likely to come under pressure from its ally BJP to part with more seats, especially in the western belt, where the regional party is strongest.

PMK, an influential party in the northern region, has already left the alliance.

Both DMK and AIADMK have already invited applications from contestants for all posts in the urban local bodies. The DMDK, which quit the AIADMK alliance before the 2021 polls, will contest alone and has asked its cadres who are willing to contest to apply for the same.