Bharatiya Janata Party member D. Karthik, who contested as an independent in Ward 9, Kurudampalayam Panchayat, Coimbatore, in the recently-concluded ordinary rural local body polls, said there was no truth to the report that not even his family voted for him.
“Towards the end of counting on Tuesday, a section of the media reported that I had secured only a vote and that even my family did not vote for me. It is a fact that I secured only one vote but there is no truth behind the report that my family did not vote for me as it does not have a vote in that ward.”
He resided in Ward 4 in Kurudampalayam. His family and he voted there. But, he chose to contest in Ward 9 as an independent to gain electoral experience. He contested after taking the nod from the party, said Mr. Karthik, who joined the BJP about a decade ago.
At the time of filing nomination, a friend, Vaithilingam, proposed his candidature. After filing nomination, he did not canvass because his mother underwent surgery and the AIADMK member contesting there as an independent requested him not to canvas as the BJP and AIADMK were allies, he said.
It was for this reason that he did not canvas and the only vote he secured was that of his sponsor, Mr. Vaithilingam, he added. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s A. Arulraj won the election securing 387 of the 913 votes polled.
That the media published report about his getting only a vote had not affected him as much as the spin that it gave – that not even his family had voted for him, he said.
