Chennai, October 12: The counting of votes for Tamil Nadu local body elections 2021 is currently underway. The polls were held in nine newly constituted districts of Tamil Nadu in two phases on October 6 and 9. These nine districts are - Kancheepuram, Tenkasi, Chengalpattu, Ranipet, Vellore, Tiruppatur, Tirunelveli, Villupuram and Kallakurichi. The main contest is between the ruling DMK and the main opposition party, AIADMK.  As per the latest trends, the DMK-Congress alliance is heading towards a landslide victory.

The Voting was held for 27,003 posts in these districts. According to reports, the DMK is ahead in 353 panchayat union ward member seats, while the AIADMK is leading in 59 seats. DMK's ally Congress is leading on five seats.. There are a total of 1381 union panchayat ward member seats and 140 district panchayat ward member seats. The Stalin-led party is also ahead in 88 district panchayat ward member seats. Tamil Nadu Rural Local Body Election Results 2021: Counting of Votes for Rural Local Body Polls Underway.

AIADMK’s ally, the PMK chose to contest on its own from all the nine districts, while another ally, the BJP, is contesting alone in the Kallakurichi district. Polls to local bodies to fill vacancies (casual election) were also held on October 9 in 28 other districts. The first phase of polling on October 6 recorded 77.4 percent polling, while the second phase on October 9 registered 78.5 percent polling.

Around 80,000 candidates have contested for the polls, and 2,981 got elected unopposed. Of this, 119 are village panchayat union presidents, five panchayat union ward members, and two district panchayat union ward members were elected unopposed.

CCTV cameras are deployed at all counting centres, and State Election Commissioner V. Palanikumar told the media persons that a full proof counting would be done and the results would be made available on the Commission website. These are the first elections in the state after the assembly election, which were held in April this year. Stalin-led DMK won these elections with a brute majority.

(With inputs from IANS)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 12, 2021 04:15 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).