Western Tamil Nadu remains an AIADMK fortress
The Hindu
Vanathi wrests Coimbatore South
In his first media interview in the run up to the Assembly election, DMK president M.K. Stalin had told The Hindu that west Tamil Nadu will no longer be the fortress of the AIADMK. However, on Sunday as results of the Assembly elections trickled in, the voters proved him wrong. As per late-night trends, the AIADMK had won or established leads in 31 of the 57 seats across eight districts in its bastion. The DMK was ahead in more than 10 seats and had won Bargur and Coonoor. In the 2016 Assembly elections, the AIADMK had won 45 of these seats helping it form the government. The DMK had then won 10 and the Congress two. Notably this time, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and the Ministers from the region, barring V. Saroja (Rasipuram), have retained their seats, despite some of them having been specific targets of the campaign by the DMK, its allies and other rival parties.The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.