Tamil Nadu Gears Up For Local Body Polls In Newly Carved Districts

The local body polls in nine new districts will be the next crucial election, post the Assembly polls held in April, when the DMK handed a crushing defeat to the AIADMK.

DMK Party President and Tamil Nadu curreent Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.

Chennai: Tamil Nadu gets contest ready for the next big polls in the state, for electing local bodies in Kancheepuram, Chengalpettu, Vellore, Tirupathur, Ranipet, Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Tirunelveli, and Tenkasi.

This will be the next crucial election, post the Assembly polls held in April, when the DMK handed a crushing defeat to the AIADMK.

The two Dravidian majors will face off in the local body elections in the 9 new districts.

A Supreme Court Vacation Bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Aniruddha Bose on June 22, directed the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission to conduct the local body elections in the nine new districts and declare results before September 15.

The nine districts were carved out from existing four districts and the elections to their local bodies were to be held before December 2019 after completing the delimitation process, for which they have now been given an extention.

Political parties have already started preparations, with the DMK already holding district secretary-level meetings at the party state headquarters on Monday in which Chief Minister and DMK president M.K.Stalin participated.

In the meeting Stalin urged the party district secretaries to outline a plan so that the DMK alliance win all the seats giving no room for the opposition.

DMK alliance partner Congress is keen that the differences with the Dravidian party at the grass root levels be ironed out and they get maximum seats to contest.

Praising party’s effort, State Congress chief K.S. Alagiri said, "Congress has performed extremely well in the recent assembly elections and we expect at least 10 per cent of the total seats in the local body polls to be allocated to us to contest the polls", as he said to IANS.

The DMK though would consider providing the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, a movement predominant with Dalit cadres more seats in the ensuing elections as the VCK have a good grass-root presence in these districts.

The AIADMK is on a sticky wicket after losing power and the arrival of former interim general secretary V.K.Sasikala pitching her claims to lead the party.

While both the senior leaders, K. Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam putt up a brave front, there are resentments at the grass-root levels as Sasikala tries to remain relevent by releasing audio clippings of her conversation with the AIADMK cadres in various parts of the state on a daily basis.

The AIADMK is also worried that the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) floated by Sasikala's nephew TTV Dhinakaran will create problems by eating into its vote share.

Even as the AIADMK has dismissed its spokesperson Pugazhendhi for having been vocally critical of PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss, the party cadres do not feel that the PMK leadership have that bonhomie with the AIADMK and that there are several differences of opinion at the grass-root level between the PMK and AIADMK leadership, both at the micro and macro levels.