Tamil Nadu rural local body polls: AIADMK suffers a setback

DMK ahead in panchayat unions, district panchayat wards.

January 02, 2020 05:14 pm | Updated November 28, 2021 11:54 am IST - CHENNAI

Counting of votes under way at a centre in Perumalpattu in Tiruvallur district on January 2, 2020.

Counting of votes under way at a centre in Perumalpattu in Tiruvallur district on January 2, 2020.

The ruling AIADMK suffered a setback in the rural local body polls held in 27 districts with the DMK racing ahead in panchayat unions and district panchayat wards as per results/trends available around 11.30 p.m. on Thursday. 

Crowdsourced trends were available only for 350-odd of the 515 district panchayat member posts and 2,900-odd of the 5,090 panchayat union ward posts, while the State Election Commission declared the results for much fewer posts. The complete tally of results is expected to be available only by Friday evening.

The DMK had won in 727 of 1,632 seats the results of which were declared for the post of panchayat union ward members as of 11.30 p.m. The AIADMK was lagging by nearly 170 seats, as its candidates had won only in 556 seats.

The AIADMK’s defeat at the hands of its arch rival DMK, that too in the rural areas, considered the ruling party’s main vote bank from the time the party was founded nearly five decades ago, came as a shock to the establishment with Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami taking stock of and deliberating with senior leaders in the evening.

The victory, even if not so huge, is likely to be a huge boost for the DMK ahead of next year’s Assembly elections, as the party has remained out of power for the last two terms.

At the time of going to print, the DMK’s gains in panchayat unions came largely from Tiruchi with 109 seats, Thanjavur (72), Pudukottai (48) and Dindigul (47). The largest tally for the AIADMK was from Thoothukudi with 43 seats, Thanjavur (40) and Theni (38).

The DMK’s allies, the Congress and the CPI, won 39 and 24 seats respectively in panchayat unions. The AIADMK’s allies, the DMDK and the BJP, won in 33 and 24 seats, respectively.

 

There are a total of 5,090 seats for the post of panchayat union ward members across the 27 districts where polls were held.

The DMK also won 15 seats for the post of district panchayat ward members, while the AIADMK won 6. The BJP, the CPI and the CPI (M) won one seat each out of the total tally of 24 for which results were announced. There are a total of 515 seats in this category. Except a few districts, the two parties were neck and neck with the counting continuing well past midnight. 

DMK president M.K. Stalin complained that the results were deliberately being delayed.

State Election Commissioner, R. Palaniswamy explained that the counting process was lengthy, as there was a need to have a transparent counting process. “It is not a wanton delay,” Mr. Palaniswamy said.

In Panchayat Unions, Tiruchirapalli turned out to be one of the biggest game changers for the DMK, with the party leading over its rival the AIADMK by nearly 73 seats at the time of going to print. Ironically for the ruling party, in districts where it was leading over the DMK, its largest seat difference was a margin of 17 in Thoothukudi where it won 43 seats to DMK’s 26.

Likewise, the DMK won 32 seats in Krishnagiri, 31 in Tiruvannamalai, 36 in Tiruvarur, 33 in Madurai and 32 in Virudhunagar and 29 in Ramanathapuram in the Panchayat Unions. The AIADMK won 33 seats in Cuddalore, 31 in Karur, 36 in Tiruchirapalli, 32 in Dindigul, 33 in Madurai and 29 in Pudukottai.

 

A total of 18,570 candidates were elected unopposed for various posts. 18,137 candidates were elected without a contest for the post of village panchayat ward members, 410 for the post of village panchayat president, and 23 for the post of panchayat union ward members.

Trends indicated that the two parties were neck and neck in leads as well for the posts of district panchayat presidents and panchayat union ward members. The leads ranged between 960 and 1,135 for the DMK alliance for the posts of panchayat union ward members while for the AIADMK combine it ranged from 814 to 935.

For the post of district ward member, the leads for the DMK combine was between 166 and 173, while for the AIADMK alliance it ranged from 164 to 179.

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