Of 515 seats, DMK gets 261, AIADMK 242; results of 9 seats awaited

The Opposition DMK led by party chief MK Stalin continued its dream run in the two-phase election held to the rural local bodies of Tamil Nadu on December 27 and 30, the counting of which began on Thursday.

Out of the 515 district panchayat seats at stake in 27 districts where election was held, the DMK and its allies romped home by winning 261 seats. The AIADMK had to content with 242 seats. Results from nine seats are expected by late evening as the counting of paper ballots is taking time, according to an official of the State Election Commission.

The DMK won 2,330 seats out of the 5,067 panchayat union seats while the AIADMK finished with 2,165 seats. The elections held in two phases on December 27 and 30 were conducted in rural Tamil Nadu to elect 655 district ward panchayat members, 6,471 panchayat union ward members, 12,524 village panchayat presidents, and 99,324 village panchayat ward members.

Notable losses from the AIADMK include the defeat of the son and daughter of former Ramanathapuram MP Anwhar Raajhaa, who is also the Muslim face of the party. “They were defeated because of the AIADMK’s support for the Citizenship Amendment Act in the Rajya Sabha,” said Nawas Kani, the DMK MP from Ramanathapuram.

Though the DMK was yet to react officially to the poll results, party leaders were upbeat. Anna Arivalayam, the party headquarters in Chennai’s Mount Road was in a jubilant mood. “It is sure that we are going to have a new Government led by Stalin in the State Secretariat after the 2021 Assembly election,” said one of the senior leaders.

CD Meyyappan, secretary AICC, said the poll results were an indicator to the changes on the anvil in Tamil Nadu. “This is a precursor to the Assembly election scheduled for 2021. The DMK-led front is confident of sweeping the Assembly election,” said Meyyappan.

Though the election to village panchayats were held in an apolitical manner, leaders of the AIADMK and the DMK campaigned intensively throughout the districts and the battle turned out to be a tightly fought one. By Friday noon, it was clear that the AIADMK has lost heavily in the hustings. O Panneerselvam, Deputy Chief Minister who is also the coordinator of the steering committee heading the AIADMK, told reporters at Chennai that the party would accept the verdict of the people and continue its work intensively for the welfare of the masses.

Despite the impressive win, the DMK continued its rhetoric against the AIADMK Government in the State. Friday saw former Union Minister and DMK strongman TR Baalu making a grand appearance at the headquarters of the State Election Commission to complaint against the “deliberate delay’ in announcing the results of the polls as well as to submit details about “irregularities” by the Government as well as the SEC in conducting the election.

“We have submitted detailed account of the misuse of Government machinery by the AIADMK in the polls and also the complicity of the SEC in the hustings,” said Baalu while speaking to the media.

Kattumannarkoil Kannan, senior BJP leader said money and muscle power played major roles in the local body election. “We cannot pinpoint who are the culprits but I am sure that each vote was purchased at a price of Rs 2,000,” said Kannan.

T Ramakrishnan, author and commentator said though the DMK had made impressive strides in the local body elections, it is too early to forecast about the results of the State Assembly election expected to take place in early 2022. “What is the guarantee that the AIADMK would not bounce back? One year is a long time in politics,” said Ramakrishnan.