Re-empowering the grassroots

As the rural local bodies elections will be held shortly in Tamil Nadu, here is a look at the broad canvas of issues the elections have thrown up across nine districts

The rural local bodies elections for nearly 24,000 seats in nine districts, scheduled for October 6 and 9, would have been a routine affair, as they constitute, in effect, a part of the elections held in December 2019. But, in May this year, Fort St. George, the seat of power in Tamil Nadu, saw a change of guard with the AIADMK losing power in the Assembly election to the DMK, which remained in the Opposition for 10 consecutive years. The political change and the subsequent events give a new context to the local bodies elections wherein the conventional party-based system is for members of wards of panchayat unions and district panchayats. In the parlance of political parties, a ward of panchayat union is called a 5,000-member ward and that of district panchayat a 50,000-elector ward. In respect of ward members and presidents of village panchayats, the party-less system of elections is followed.

Naturally, the ruling DMK and its allies view these elections as an opportunity to get the public endorsement which they got five months ago reiterated. With their alliance remaining intact, they are hopeful of romping home this time, too. As the new government is not even six months old, its supporters are of the view that there is hardly anything that can be held against it. At the same time, the Opposition front, led by the AIADMK, according to the ruling alliance, has weakened with the exit of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), which has decided to go it alone. In seven of the nine poll-bound districts in the northern region, the PMK is perceived to be a strong force. Its spokesperson K. Balu asserts, “The results of the local bodies elections [which will be out from October 12] will demonstrate again that we are the third force in the State.”

It is not that there are no rumblings within the ruling front. For example, in a ward of the Tenkasi panchayat union in the south, the Communist Party of India and the DMK have put up their nominees, according to information available on the website of the State Election Commission (SEC). K. Balakrishnan, State secretary of the CPI(M), acknowledges that the seat-sharing arrangement, which happens in respect of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, does not operate the same way in the case of local bodies. “Where there exists an understanding for seat-sharing, we, the Left, are contesting together as part of the broad alliance. At the same time, where no agreement has been reached, we are contesting separately. However, there is no problem among all our partners at the State level.”