18,570 elected unopposed, 2.31 lakh in fray

There were also a few examples in the opposition DMK camp in Tiruvallur, Tiruchy and Thanjavur areas, where DMK ward members were elected unopposed. In a poll-related development, AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran on Friday announced party poll managers for all districts. The press release named former minister P Palaniappan as one of the key poll managers. “Tiruvannamalai and Pudukkottai have recorded lot of unopposed candidates and there were also independents who are to be elected without any opposition,” said an informed government official.

The results are coming in and thousands of paperwork’s must be scrutinised before announcing the results.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission said 48,891 nominations were withdrawn leaving 2.31 lakh candidates in fray for the phase 1 of the local body elections. Meanwhile, the SEC in a press release said that the flying squads have been posted in towns and panchayat levels to monitor the distribution of cash for votes.

The members of the ruling AIADMK are elated and are hoping for winning the maximum number of posts in the first phase of local body polls. The dejected BJP functionaries in Pudukkottai, Nagercoil and Kanniyakumari, have also filed their nominations after the local AIADMK district secretaries denied the number of seats demanded by the BJP.

“Our party is fielding candidates in BJP stronghold, the alliance talks have been left at the district levels,” said a BJP functionary adding that the second-round talks will commence when the dates for mayor electionsare announced. “The AIADMK is likely to maintain the maximum number of mayor seats and the municipal chairman posts. Senior Ministers are trying their best to reduce the number of seats to alliance partners,” said an AIADMK MLA.