The DMK has not looked back in north Tamil Nadu since its massive victory in the Assembly election nine months ago. That’s the message one got on Tuesday when the results of the urban local bodies elections were declared.
After the drubbing it received in the region in last year’s Assembly elections, the AIADMK failed to put up a decent show in Chennai and its surroundings in the civic polls. The PMK, too, was unable to come up with any creditable performance in the northern belt which has a significant percentage of Vanniyar voters.
According to politicians and observers, the DMK’s “good governance” in the last nine months had made it easy for the Secular Progressive Alliance’s candidates in the northern districts. The relatively short period meant there was no chance for an anti-incumbency wave despite the repeated flooding of Chennai. It also meant the DMK government machinery ensured that the work at the ground level reached people through the media.
