CHENNAI, Feb 23: The ruling DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance has recorded a massive victory in the urban local body elections in Tamil Nadu almost totally washing out its main rival the AIADMK and its alliance partner the BJP.
The urban local body elections in Tamil Nadu were held on February 19 after a gap of about 10 years. The DMK alliance, comprising the Congress, the Left parties, the MDMK, the VCK, the MMK and other outfits, captured all 21 municipal corporations in the State, and almost all of the municipalities and town panchayats.
The opposition AIADMK camp finished a distant second despite vigorous campaigning by its top leaders O. Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami. The party had not fared this bad in local bodies polls since its rout in 1996. In contrast, DMK president and Chief Minister MK Stalin had addressed district-wise virtual campaigns from Chennai.
The DMK front’s good performance was spread across Tamil Nadu but its most significant success came in the western region, which the AIADMK had held on to in the last Assembly elections, nine months ago. The party also wrested the prestigious 200-ward Greater Chennai Corporation Council, which was won by the AIADMK in 2011.
Stalin said the victory was a recognition for the “Dravidian model development” and governance and a certificate for the nine months of the DMK government. Smaller parties such as the PMK, the Naam Tamilar Katchi, Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam, Vijayakant’s DMDK and TTV Dhinakaran’s AMMK, which had contested alone, were unable to put up a tough fight. The BJP’s candidates won in 308 wards across corporations, municipalities and town panchayats of which 200 came from Kanniyakumari where national parties have a dominant presence than the Dravidian outfits.
The DMK alliance secured at least 1,100 wards in all 21 municipal corporations (the DMK 948, the Congress 73, the CPI(M) 24, the MDMK 21, the VCK 16, the CPI 13, and the IUML six), while the AIADMK camp won in 164 wards in municipal corporations, according to the results announced by the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission (TNSEC) which included candidates elected unopposed.
As for municipalities, the DMK front won in 2,658 wards (the DMK 2,360, the Congress 151, the CPI(M) 41, the MDMK 34, the VCK 26, the IUML 23, the CPI 19, and the MMK four), while the AIADMK secured 638 posts. In town panchayats, the DMK front won in 4,993 seats (the DMK 4,388, the Congress 368, the CPI(M) 101, the VCK 51, the MDMK 34, the CPI 26, the IUML 12, and the MMK 13), while the AIADMK won in 1,206.
The TNSEC had announced elections to fill 12,838 posts in 649 urban local bodies, including 21 municipal corporations, 138 municipalities and 490 town panchayats. A total of 218 candidates were declared elected unopposed while a total of 57,778 candidates were in the fray contesting for 12,607 posts.
(Manas Dasgupta)
