NTK to field ex-bureaucrats, judges for TN urban body polls

The NTK had done extremely well in the 2021 Assembly elections garnering 6.8 per cent of the total votes polled but in the recent rural local body elections, it got drubbed. The party does not want to make the same mistake as it has made in the rural local body elections and wants to field people outside of the party fold.

A senior NTK leader told IANS, "We found that in the local elections, individuals and their persona is more important than party leanings and we don't want to make the same mistake repeatedly and hence contemplating to field retired bureaucrats, judges, doctors, lawyers and journalists in the urban local body polls for Mayor posts."

He, however, said that these were early stages and that the party has yet to take a final call on the same. Seeman and his party NTK has always been in the news for ultra Tamil positions and has got a good support among the rural youth of Tamil Nadu. It was a shock for the party to suffer a heavy loss in the rural local body elections.

The NTK is most likely to contest the urban local body polls on its own or rather will not be entering into any political alliance, a party leader added.

R. Padmanabhan, Director, Socio-Economic Development Foundation, a think-tank based out of Madurai, told IANS, "The NTK is a party which has gained appeal in rural Tamil Nadu with its ultra Tamil position and is trying to carve out a niche for itself by not aligning with any other party. In the days to come, the party seems to gain momentum and is being closely observed by both the mainstream Dravidian parties, DMK and the AIADMK, due to its rapid growth in rural pockets of the state."