The AIADMK has gained marginally over its political rival DMK in terms of the district panchayat member posts in southern districts of Tamil Nadu.
Out of eight districts in the south, the ruling AIADMK wrested control in Thoothukudi, Kanniyakumari, Theni and Virudhunagar.
The DMK emerged victorious in Madurai, Dindigul and Ramanathapuram respectively. Both the DMK and AIADMK bagged eight seats each in the Sivaganga district panchayat.
Interestingly, the BJP opened its account in Theni, Dindigul, Virudhunagar, Madurai and Kanniyakumari districts for various posts including the district panchayat member seat.
In Theni district, the BJP won a seat to the district panchayat post, while many of its candidates emerged outside the counting centres waving the victory symbol and armed with the certificate received from the officials.
BJP State secretary R Srinivasan, in charge of south zone, said the party developed roots in the rural local bodies. “This is an important step and a beginning for us. This has silenced many of our critics,” he added. The BJP, which lost to its rivals by wafer-thin margin, would only make the cadre prepare for the upcoming polls, Dr Srinivasan said. After the outcome of Lok Sabha poll, this election results had come as a morale-booster for the AIADMK, which was not the case with the DMK as they should have swept the polls. Thus, it was a beginning of the end for the DMK,” he summed up.
‘Proof of public ire’
The DMK regional leaders in south said they had emerged victorious despite interventions by the ministers and MLAs with the official machinery.
The former Minister Thangam Thennarasu from Virudhunagar district said they had won comfortably in the district panchayat posts and in the unions against their rivals AIADMK. This only showed the public ire against the government, the intra-party feud and the local minister’s autocratic behaviour.
In Madurai, Dindigul, Ramanathapuram too, the DMK had won comfortably. Interestingly, in Sivaganga district, the DMK and AIADMK shared eight seats each in the district panchayat member post, which is poised for indirect election for the chairman post.
The victory of the AIADMK combine in Kanniyakumari district came as a shock to the DMK and Congress functionaries. Local Congress leaders said that the indifferent attitude and non-cooperation from the CPI(M) made them to contest, which proved to be advantageous to the AIADMK candidate.
Similarly, in the neighbouring Thoothukudi district, the DMK walked with the cake in urban pockets of the Pearl city, while the AIADMK bagged major chunk in rural areas such as Vilathikulam.
The victory for the AIADMK in Theni district was much needed to the party after the results in Lok Sabha. Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam told The Hindu that the performance would continue in the ensuing Assembly polls too. “The DMK should stop indulging in misleading the people. We sincerely thank the electorate whose votes had shown that this government is delivering,” he said.
