The DMK may have swept local body polls but everything isn’t hunky-dory
The election of a 28-year-old Harijan, R Priya, as Chennai Mayor is a feather on the cap of the DMK and Chief Minister MK Stalin. This is the first time an oppressed class woman has been elevated as the head of one of the oldest municipal corporations in the world. R Priya is the third woman to occupy the seat in the history of the corporation, which was presided over by Stalin and his Cabinet colleague M Subramaniam in the past. The DMK and its allies had a landslide in the elections to the urban local bodies on February 19 while the AIADMK, the main Opposition party, finished a distant second. The DMK-led front captured all the 21 municipal corporations and almost all municipalities and town panchayats. Pollsters say the AIADMK has not fared this badly ever in local body polls. While DMK has reasons to celebrate, there are some hard realities to consider. Tamil Nadu has voted only for the ruling party in all local body polls in the past because voters know that if they elect candidates belonging to the party in power, funds for development works would get sanctioned from Chennai.
Though the DMK swept the elections across the State, the polling registered is a matter of concern. The State saw only 60.7 per cent of the voters cast their votes. In Greater Chennai Municipal Corporation where DMK bagged 153 of the 200 wards, only 43.59 per cent voters turned up for polling. The situation in the remaining 20 corporations or municipal councils/town panchayats was no different. Most people stayed indoors fearing the money and muscle power of the ruling party. Kamal Haasan, founder of Makkal Neethi Maiam, attributed his party’s poor showing to widespread cash/gift distribution by the ruling party. D Jayakumar, a former Minister in the AIADMK Government, was arrested and jailed when he countered the authorities with proof of impersonation at a polling booth. Anbumani Ramadoss, the PMK leader, alleged that the DMK had coerced many candidates into withdrawing nominations. The only interesting issue of this round of poll was the verbal duel between the Congress and the BJP for the third position. Both the national parties ride piggyback on the DMK and AIADMK, respectively, to sustain in the State though this time the Hindutva party contested all alone and fared reasonably well.