AIADMK bags 9 district panchayat chief posts, DMK gets 6

As of Saturday afternoon, the ruling party has established an initial lead over the DMK in the posts of chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of panchayat unions; however counting is still on

Women celebrating the victory of R. Revathi from PMK who won the elections to the post of District Panchayat Chairman in Salem on Saturday

With counting of votes in progress for the posts of chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of panchayat unions (PU) and district panchayats (DP) in 27 districts, the ruling AIADMK-led front is ahead of the DMK’s combine by claiming the post of chairperson of DPs in 9 districts.

As of 4.30 pm, the ruling party and its ally have bagged the DP chairperson’s post in nine districts -- Erode, Namakkal, Salem, Tiruppur, Pudukottai, Thoothukudi, Kanniyakumari, Virudhunagar and Theni while the DMK has got six – Namakkal, Tiruchi, Ramnathapuram, Dindigul, Madurai and Tiruvallur.

In Pudukottai, the ruling party has sprung a surprise, as even though it won fewer councils in the DP council originally than the DMK, its candidate T. Jayalakshmi managed to win over the confidence of 12 members against 9 votes scored by the DMK candidate in the election. Apparently, three ward members belonging to the DMK-Congress voted in support of her.

As regards Panchayat Unions, the DMK is ahead of the AIADMK as its nominees for the post of chairperson were elected in a majority of the unions in six districts – Tiruchi, Nagapattinam, Pudukottai, Virudhunagar, Tiruppur and Tiruvallur. The ruling party retained its lead in four districts – Erode, Namakkal, Coimbatore and Thoothukudi. The DMK bagged all the PUs in Tiruchi and the AIADMK, Coimbatore.