CHENNAI: The confidence of the AIADMK, which parted ways with the BJP ahead of the urban local body polls, was clearly misplaced. In 2016, J Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK swept the assembly election on its own.
The AIADMK, now led by coordinator O Panneerselvam and joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami, struggled to retain even its western stronghold. The opposition party managed to win 2,008 of the 12,470 wards spread over corporations, municipalities and town panchayats, a miniscule compared to the ruling DMK’s victories.
