CHENNAI: The ruling DMK is set to sweep the just concluded elections to rural local bodies in nine districts in posts which were contested on party lines. Initial trends from the 74 counting centres across the nine districts clearly indicate this.
Of the 140 district panchayat ward member posts, the DMK has won or is leading in 64 posts while the AIADMK has won or is leading in just four. All other parties are yet to open their account.
Of the 1,381 panchayat union ward member posts, the DMK has won or is leading in 166 posts while the AIADMK has won or is leading in 26, PMK in six, AMMK in one and others in four. Other parties are yet to make any headway.
In an interesting incident, R Kadalmani was elected as the president of Sirumaruthur village in Trichy district by a single vote. Kadalmani secured 424 votes while his rival R Kanniammal secured 423 votes.
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In Coimbatore district, D Karthik, a BJP candidate who contested for the village panchayat ward member post in Kurudampalayam, got only one vote. Immediately, social media was abuzz with the hashtag "otha vottu bjp" trolling the state unit of the BJP and its president K Annamalai.
In Chengalpattu district, the DMK led in 7 out of 16 district panchayat ward member posts. The AIADMK is yet to open its account. In Panchayat Union Ward Member posts, the DMK is leading in 13 out of 154 posts for which elections were held while the AIADMK is leading in seven.
Meanwhile, the Madras High Court expressed confidence that the State Election Commission would take steps to conduct the counting of votes in an appropriate manner. A two-judge bench of the Madras High Court said this while hearing a petition from three candidates seeking directions to the SEC to videograph the entire counting process since there were chances for irregularities.
The bench said the counting had already started and hoped that the Commission would have made arrangements for conducting the counting in an appropriate way. The court also directed the SEC to respond within two weeks.