It is a big win for the opposition party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) led by MK Stalin, in the ongoing local body elections in Tamil Nadu. He said his party had won “despite ruling party's anarchy and misuse of power”.
“The results have proven that people power is strong enough to win against any excesses. People’s confidence in the DMK and aversion for ruling party have come to light.”MK Stalin, DMK President
“I assure you that the elected DMK representatives will serve in a just way. They will turn welfare schemes into schemes that will truly and fully benefit them,” he added.
Elections for 91,975 rural local body posts, including panchayat union and district panchayat union ward members, were held on 28 and 30 December.
At 10:45 pm, the DMK and its allies had a clear edge over the ruling AIADMK-led combine in 1,997 panchayat union seats (out of 5,090) and 216 district panchayat union seats (out of 515). The AIADMK leads in 1,668 and 187 seats, respectively.
According to results declared so far by the State Election Commission, of the total 5,090 ward member posts in panchayat unions, DMK won in 1,895 posts and AIADMK and its allies secured 1,528 ward member posts.
DMK president MK Stalin had knocked on the Election Commissioner’s door in the wee hours of Friday to complain against the alleged irregularities in the ongoing process of counting votes.
“The poll body is conspiring to stop the DMK’s victory in the local body polls. The results have not yet been declared in the districts where the DMK has won. The AIADMK is declared winner and democracy is murdered.”MK Stalin, DMK President
AIADMK chief and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said his party accepted the verdict of people irrespective of the outcome.
“Whatever may be the poll results, we accept and bow to the people’s verdict.”O Panneerselvam, Deputy Chief Minister, Tamil Nadu
The results dealt a blow to the AIADMK, which was confident of repeating its success in the bypolls in the local body elections.
Some AIADMK functionaries believe that the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill has proved detrimental, especially in areas dominated by minorities, since the AIADMK extended supported for the legislation in Parliament.
DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran also referred to the results as a “referendum on CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and NRC (National Register of Citizens).”
Conducted after a gap of eight years, these are the first local body elections since the deaths of stalwarts M Karunanidhi of DMK and J Jayalalithaa of AIADMK.
Earlier this year, DMK swept the state in Lok Sabha polls by winning 37 of 38 seats leaving only one for the AIADMK-BJP alliance.
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