Urban local body polls: Sun shines in southern districts of TN

Landslide victory expected for ruling DMK; BJP party cadre elated as they stood number 3 after the two Dravidian majors

DMK cadres celebrating the party candidate’s victory in the urban local body elections in Madurai on Tuesday | Photo Credit: Ashok R

The ruling DMK is all set to register a landslide victory in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu with their candidates winning a majority of the wards from the Corporations, Municipalities and Town Panchayats, for which urban local body elections were held on February 19.

The counting, which began at 8 a.m., was still going on in the afternoon amidst tight security, and is expected to get over late in the evening, according to officials.

New Corporations

Apart from winning a majority of the wards in the Corporations including Madurai, Dindigul, Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi, the DMK with the support of their alliance partners, also registered its maiden victory in the newly upgraded Sivakasi and Nagercoil Corporations.

In almost every Corporation, the ruling party candidates appeared to be on the winning side and in Thoothukudi, the DMK and allies have bagged 50 out of the 60 wards, according to an official in the Thoothukudi Corporation.

Municipalities and Town Panchayats

Across the 10 districts in southern Tamil Nadu, the DMK and their partners -- Congress, VCK, MDMK, CPI and CPI(M) and others have wrested Municipalities from their political opponent, the AIADMK.

Theni district, considered to be the AIADMK’s fort too was bagged by the DMK. It was the DMK way in many other districts, such as Virudhunagar, where the ruling has made a clean sweep of all the five Municipalities including Srivilliputtur and Sattur.

The Dindigul district, appeared to be not only sweeping in favour of the DMK, but most of the party’s candidates had even polled highest votes -- in many wards, where the DMK has won, except the AIADMK, all other candidates were likely to lose their deposits. Kodaikanal, Oddanchatram and Palani Municipalities were going in favour of the DMK.

Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga

Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga districts too had brought in cheers to the DMK by registering victories including in the trouble-prone fisherfolk habitations. In fact, Paramakudi Municipality has always been with the AIADMK from time immemorial and it has now gone the DMK’s way.

In the southern tip, the DMK had a real chance to celebrate in Kanniyakumari district as the party had lost to the BJP in the Assembly election. The victory meant a comeback for the party leaders especially, the district secretary and former minister Suresh Rajan.

Thoothukudi

In Thoothukudi district also, the DMK had its way with the presence of the local MP Kanimozhi and two Ministers Geetha Jeevan and Anitha Radhakrishnan. Similarly, the Industry Minister Thangam Thennarasu’s hometown in Mallankinaru in Virudhunagar district was also swept with the DMK candidates romping home.

In a nutshell, except for registering victories from one or two wards in the Municipalities and Town Panchayats in the southern districts, the AIADMK has lost catastrophically to its rival DMK.

Though the BJP has managed to register victories in a similar fashion to the AIADMK, the partymen were elated as they stood number three leaving the first two spots to the Dravidian majors.

The results from the southern districts showed that the voters have rejected Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), Makkal Neethi Maiam (MNM) and Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK).