SEC posting raises civic poll hopes, DMK and AIADMK men begin field work

If sources are to be believed, the civic polls for the post of Mayors and ward councillors are likely to be held ahead of the northeast monsoon that reaches the state usually during October.

In a related development, several AIADMK panchayat union chairmen and their deputies will now face the heat as the DMK has returned to power. The AIADMK in 2020 got the support of several independents helping the then ruling party to win the local bodies, but now with the DMK gaining power in the state, the odds have changed and the independents, who supported AIADMK, are now spotted with the DMK MLAs and district secretaries taking up COVID-19 relief works.

“Last year the AIADMK grabbed many local body polls by horse trading and now, after the mandate, most of the independents want to shift their allegiance to DMK. There are hundreds of such councillors and the DMK will soon prove its majority in the rural local bodies,” said an informed DMK legislator. In case of urban local bodies, the elections are due and we will sweep the polls, the MLA added.

It may be noted that DMK and AIADMK had a close fight in rural local body polls held in December 2019. The results declared in January 2020 saw the results of 513 district panchayat wards, while the DMK has won 243 seats, the AIADMK bagged 214 seats. In the case of panchayat union wards, DMK bagged 2,097 seats and AIADMK won 1,779 seats. The BJP managed to win 85, the CPI 62, and CPM grabbed 33 seats.

“A section of DMK councillors, who lost the indirect polls to the post of vice-chairman and chairman during the AIADMK regime, has plans to submit letters to District Collectors in Madurai, Villupuram, Theni and Virudhunagar challenging the majority stake of AIADMK chairmen,” said an AIADMK rebel candidate, who lost in the last year polls.

“After waiting for more than five years, the DMK and AIADMK aspirants in Greater Chennai are gearing up for the civic polls and are frequenting the residences of party district secretaries and Ministers intimating their interest to contest in the civic polls that have been delayed by the AIADMK government for more than five years,” said K Ashok Kumar a DMK worker in Central Chennai.