Chennai: The ruling DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance on Tuesday secured a landslide victory in the urban civic polls in Tamil Nadu humbling the principal opposition AIADMK. Elections to the urban local bodies were held on February 19 after a gap of over a decade. DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin described the victory as the people’s endorsement of the “Dravidian model of governance.”
As of 7 pm on Tuesday, the DMK alliance, which comprises the Congress, Left parties, VCK, MDMK and other outfits, appeared set to capture a comfortable majority in all the 21 Municipal Corporations including the Greater Chennai Corporation. For the AIADMK, which had under the leadership of the late J Jayalalithaa, secured a landslide in 2011, it was role reversal as it came a distant second in all Corporations. Tamil Nadu had gone for indirect election of Mayors this time, which means the Mayors of Corporations and Chairpersons of Municipalities and Town Panchayats would be elected by the victorious councillors.
As per late evening trends available for 1,335 of the 1,374 wards in Corporations, the DMK alliance had won / was leading in over a thousand wards. The AIADMK was ahead in just 161 wards and the BJP led in 22 wards.
In Municipalities, of the available indications for 3,842 out of 3,843 wards, the DMK front was ahead in nearly 2,600 wards. The AIADMK had won / led in 638 wards and the BJP in 56 wards.
As for Town Panchayats, of the 7,603 wards out of 7,621 for which leads were available, the DMK alliance had won/led in over 5,000 wards. The AIADMK came second with 1,206 wards and the BJP was ahead in 230 wards.
The biggest victories for the DMK came in the western belt where the AIADMK had managed to hold forte just nine months ago in the Assembly elections. The ruling party humbled the AIADMK in the backward of its co-coordinator and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami when it won in the ward where his house is located.
Likewise, the DMK scores big in south Tamil Nadu including in Theni district in the backyard of AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam.
