The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) made a clean sweep of the urban civic polls in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday and wrested the western region convincingly, considered a bastion of the main opposition All India Anna DMK.
Buoyed by one more huge electoral win, DMK workers celebrated the victory across the state by bursting firecrackers, distributing sweets and hailing party chief M.K. Stalin’s leadership. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M.K. Stalin said that results portray recognition of the Dravidian model and certification of good governance to his government. “As the DMK-led UPA alliance is winning with huge margins, I thank people. This is a certificate given to the last nine months of our governance. This is a reorganisation for the Dravidian model,” said Stalin.
Though the DMK won the 2021 Assembly election and formed the government, its arch rival AIADMK had won all the 10 Assembly seats in Coimbatore region and for a long time, western Tamil Nadu was seen as a fortress of the AIADMK. As per results available and trends for this region, the DMK’s victory score in urban civic polls has crossed about 75% there.
Right after last year’s Assembly win, the DMK has been focussing on the western areas and the party appointed Minister V. Senthil Balaji hailing from the Karur in the region as party in-charge for Coimbatore. Many of Balaji’s supporters on social media hailed the victory, lauding him for the turnaround in the DMK’s prospects in this part of the state.
Notably, the DMK has also won in Thondamuthur town panchayat, home turf of former AIADMK minister S.P. Velumani, considered a heavyweight in the region. After decades, the ruling party has captured the Gobichettypalayam municipality, native place of another AIADMK stalwart, KA Sengottaiyan.
As more and more results of victory poured in from municipal corporation areas, municipalities and town panchayats, DMK veteran and party general secretary Duraimurugan called on Stalin here and greeted him on the party’s continuing winning streak. DMK MPs A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran were among others who visited Stalin. Maran tweeted, “We wholeheartedly thank all the voters for their immense faith and trust!” “In yet another monumental victory, the people of Tamil Nadu have voted overwhelmingly in support of the #DMK in the #LocalBodyElections2022 Under the visionary leadership of the Hon’ble CM Thiru @mkstalin let us work towards taking TN to greater heights & glory! #DMKwins,” Maran said in another tweet.