CHENNAI: The Supreme Court’s order on Tuesday to conduct local body elections for nine districts in pandemic-struck Tamil Nadu could pose a logistical challenge for the state government.
Battered and bruised by the second wave of Covid-19, the state is inching towards normalcy.
As the Supreme Court was told, the polls could also be a tough task for the state election commission, as the delimitation exercise should be completed and preparatory works carried out amidst the pandemic.
On the political front, a bigger challenge is for the AIADMK.
The party suffered two successive defeats – in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the 2021 assembly polls – and its problems don’t seem to have abated.
Its principal rival, the DMK, is in power, and history shows often the ruling party has more than an edge in the local body elections.
While in opposition, party functionaries would think twice before spending for polls, while ruling party men would not mind splurging.
Factionalism remains a bigger challenge for the AIADMK.
Party coordinator O Panneerselvam and cocoordinator Edappadi K Palanisawami might say all is well between them, but party cadres seem unconvinced.
Though the rift would not play out much in terms of seat allocation, as it happens to be rural local bodies with low profile postings, the fissures might have a demoralising effect among cadres.
And then there is the Sasikala factor.
The impact of her telephone politics on the AIADMK is not known yet.
But going by her conversations with randomly-chosen functionaries, many in the AIADMK feel that she might up her game in the coming days.
The 66-year-old former aide of J Jayalalithaa has been telling AIADMK cadres that she might meet them soon.
Most of the nine districts where the Supreme Court has asked for polls fall in northern Tamil Nadu where the AIADMK fared poorly in the assembly elections.
In Chengalpet, for instance, the party could win just one of the seven seats.
In Ranipet and Vellore, too, it could win only one seat each.
It was EPS who divided Villupuram and made Kallakurichi a separate district, a long-pending demand of the people there.
But even in Kallakurichi, the AIADMK could win just one of the five seats.
These northern districts helped the DMK up its numbers in the state assembly considerably.
All this in spite of the fact that the PMK, which is considered to have a base in the northern districts, was in the AIADMK-led alliance after the EPS government ordered a 10.5 % quota for vanniyars in education and jobs.
And everything is not fine between the AIADMK and the PMK.
The AIADMK attempted some damage control by sacking party spokesman V Pugazhendhi for attacking PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss, but the PMK has been welcoming some of the announcements of the DMK government.
“We may not know if the PMK would be in the AIADMK alliance for the local body polls,” says former AIADMK MP K C Palaniswamy.
“Another challenge for the AIADMK is the threat of cases on functionaries,” he noted.
Manikandan, a former information technology minister, has been arrested, after a film actress complained that he cheated her after promising to marry her.
During the election campaign, DMK leaders including Stalin had threatened to send “corrupt AIADMK ministers” to jail.
AIADMK spokesman Kovai Selvaraj brushes off the threat and dismisses reports of a rift between EPS and OPS.
He also plays down threats by Sasikala.
“We are prepared for election work, ready for the contest and confident of victory,” he says.
As for the question if the alliance with the PMK would continue, saysall decisions related to alliance would be taken by the party coordinator and the joint coordinator.
But the tough task may not be restricted to the nine districts.
Stalin, buoyed by back-to-back electoral victories, will aim for a hat-trick and hold polls for urban local bodies as well simultaneously.
K C Palaniswamy says that though the DMK appears to be on solid footing, not everything is rosy for the ruling party.
The DMK’s inability to fulfil election promises, worsening cash crunch in the state, recurring power outages and rising prices might make it difficult for the ruling party, he says.
“On the other hand, a unified AIADMK could help the party win, as the cadre base is as strong as ever,” he says.
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