Party insiders, who are yet to come to terms with the huge blow, are apprehensive that Coimbatore may remain completely disconnected with the government due to lack of any elected representatives from the ruling party. 

“Officials alone can’t be left to run this second most urbanized city, which generates almost 30 per cent of revenue in Tamil Nadu. There has to be some direct intervention from the government by even appointing some in-charge person to monitor the scheme of affairs. We need to find a solution, else the party’s vacuum in the district may increase further and it would become even more difficult in the future polls too,” said a DMK leader preferring anonymity. 

There is also a firm talk doing rounds that the DMK’s entire party machinery in Coimbatore has been in the grip of an AIADMK heavyweight. “From district secretaries to other functionaries, all were sold out to the AIADMK. This in fact is the fate of DMK in the entire Kongu region. Unless the DMK leadership cracks the whip on them, a change may never come. The party should then go for an introspection to know what went wrong in this poll,” said a DMK candidate, who contested unsuccessfully from Coimbatore. 

DMK’s Karthikeya Sivasenapathy, who lost to SP Velumani in Thondamuthur said, “It’s a people mandate and they shouldn’t be blamed for their choice. But a lot of work needs to be done by the DMK in the next five years.”