Victory in rural polls emboldens anxious DMK

Even those party men, who were apprehensive of facing the civic polls till a fortnight ago, are now confident that they could have a shot at the municipal council after their party colleagues shattered the hopes of rival ruling AIADMK, which prided in the rural pockets being their stronghold.

The confident DMK functionaries, who trusted the voters, were not averse to admitting that they were pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming support.

I Paranthaman, joint secretary of the DMK legal wing, says; “We had faith in the voters, but we were apprehensive that the ruling party might indulge in largescale irregularities during polling and counting, which they did. Nonetheless, we had overpowered them and won maximum number of seats.”

“To win more than the ruling party despite them rigging the counting process in many places, especially in the western region to save face, only shows the extent of dissatisfaction people have for the incumbent AIADMK government. Their failure in delivering on the rural front, mainly implementation of village centric schemes and blind support to the BJP have angered the voters,” Paranthaman reasoned.

“I have been municipal chairman four times since 1986. Generally, people vote for the ruling party in civic polls, which will be held shortly after the Assembly polls, in the belief that voting for the ruling party would get them schemes. If people have voted for us (Opposition) despite that belief, it shows the extent to which they have been angered by the mismanagement and corruption of the AIADMK ministers,” argued DMK organising secretary RS Bharathi.

Describing the victory as one achieved through legal battle, Bharathi claimed that they had won an additional 15-20 per cent seats, but the ruling party has rigged the counting process and got officials to declare their votes as invalid votes at the nick of time in places where the margin was between 100 and 200 votes. “We will submit the details in the court. Polls have been completed for only a third of the state. Urban local bodies and left-out districts account for 70% of the voters. If we have achieved a six per centile lead over AIADMK in this, we are confident the difference would stretch to 20 per cent once the remaining elections are completed,” the DMK Rajya Sabha MP added.

Another district-level functionary requesting anonymity added; “Critics generally consider rural areas as the AIADMK strongholds. The way the ruling party handled the by-elections influenced some of our party men, who were averse to contesting. Though we had moved the court to ensure compliance with reservation and delimitation norms, our opponents had succeeded to an extent in campaigning that we were delaying polls fearing defeat. We have demystified all that.”

DMK youth wing leader Udhayanidhi Stalin, who led a meeting of the district youth wing here on Saturday summed up the political outcome of the civic poll by opining that he was unsure if the ruling AIADMK would conduct election to the urban local bodies after the defeat in rural segment.

Left parties on Saturday thanked the voters for supporting the DMK-led alliance to emerge victorious in the rural local body polls despite the excess of the ruling AIADMK. In a statement, CPI state secretary R Mutharasan said that the way the local body polls were held showed that the State Election Commission was taking orders from the ruling party. “In the counting centres, the ruling party men acted in violation of the rules. The election results were announced at the whims and fancies of the ruling party. The winning certification was issued for two candidates who contested against each other and rejection of the Opposition party candidates’ request for recounting at many places are examples of the ruling party excesses,” he said. Mutharasan said that despite several hurdles, the people have voted in favour of the DMK-led Secular Democratic Alliance in the local body polls. “We thank both the voters and the cadre and the office-bearers of all the alliance parties for working towards the alliance victory in the local body polls even as the ruling party indulged in all the excess,” he said. Pointing out that his party candidates have won in seven district panchayat council seats and 62 panchayat union ward members, he said that his party candidates would reflect public opinion while taking up the issues of drinking water, health and education. “They will work towards the welfare of the public,” he said. CPI (M) state secretary K Balakrishnan said his party and ally candidates have won the elections overcoming the irregularities of the ruling AIADMK. He also thanked the voters and supporters of all its alliance parties for working for the victory. The Marxist party has won in two district panchayat council seats and 33 panchayat union ward posts. “The massive victory of the opposition parties in the rural local body polls is a lesson taught by the people to the ruling AIADMK and its allies,” he said, adding that the winning candidates of his party would work act in forthright and transparent manner for the welfare of the public.