The age old proverb ‘there’s many a slip ’twixt the cup and the lip’ proved to be true once again as the results of Tamil Nadu’s local body election for 27 districts were announced by late Friday night.
Though the Opposition DMK was ahead of the ruling AIADMK while results from districts were trickling in during the day time, scenario underwent a major change during the last phase of counting.
The AIADMK which was trailing till then surged ahead by late Friday evening and ‘squared up’ for the losses it suffered during the day time.
When the final results of the district panchayat wards were declared, the DMK and the AIADMK shared the honours by winning 13 districts each while Shivaganga yielded a split verdict.
Out of the 515 wards in 27 districts where election was held, the DMK won 217 seats while the AIADMK had to content with 187 seats. Similarly, out of the 5090 panchayat union wards, the DMK walked away with 2000 seats while the AIADMK had to content with 1668 seats .
Though there are 3 districts in Tamil Nadu, only 27 districts went to the polls in December 2 and 30 as per the order of the apex court.
Election to the remaining districts would e held after the process of the delimitation and finalisation of reservation of wards for the scheduled caste are completed. Urban local bodies too would go to the polls in a later stage, according to Tamil Nadu State Election Commission.
Though there were indications of the repetition of the Lok Sabha election in April 2019 when the DMK together with its allies swept the polls, the final results show that the game of politics is still open in the State, according to Sreekumar Balakrishnan, veteran political commentator. “Ill not say it was a big win for DMK and a major loss for the AIADMK. The polls which were due in 2016 got delayed because of the series of cases filed by the DMK. The State Election Commission had completed all formalities including the scrutiny of nomination papers when the Madras High Court stayed the entire process citing the non completion of delimitation and reservation process,” said Balakrishnan.
Interestingly, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami who remained incommunicado throughout Friday issued a release by late night thanking the voters for the trust they ‘showered’ on AIADMK. Eight months after the setback in the Lok Sabha polls, the party has regained the affection and support of the people.
We consolidated the position of the government, overcoming adversities that were caused by the verdict of the Lok Sabha polls,” said Palaniswami and deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam in a joint statement.
M K Stalin, leader of the Opposition and DMK president charged the Government for misusing government machinery and the services of the State Election Commission to make sure that the victory of the AIADMK. Stalin also alleged that the ruling party got the election delayed though it was to be held in 2016. “Had the urban local body election too was held along with this polls, the DMK would have swept the election,” said Stalin.
According to Balakrishnan, Tamil Nadu would see a tight fight in the 2021 assembly election as DMK is in an aggressive mood. “The party has been out of power in the State since 2011 and in the Centre since February 2013. The cadre could be rejuvenated only by winning the assembly election,” he said.