Counting of votes for the rural local body polls in Tamil Nadu shows initial leads in 9 districts favouring the ruling DMK. The party is leading in 71 panchayat union ward member seats, 33 district panchayat ward member seats, 27 district councillor seats and 57 union councilor seats in 9 districts as of 1 pm.
Meanwhile, the opposition AIADMK is leading in 13 panchayat union ward member seats and independents are leading in four other panchayat union ward member seats.
The entire process of counting is carried out under CCTV (Close Circuit Television) surveillance. The elections were held on October 6 and 9 for the rural local bodies in Tamil Nadu. The elections were held for the rural local bodies of Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Ranipet, Villupuram, Vellore, Tiruppatur, and Kallakurichi districts of the state.
Around 80,000 candidates contested for 27,003 posts in these local bodies. Counting is being done in 74 centres spread out across Tamil Nadu.
Out of the 80,000 candidates, 2981 of them got elected to various posts unopposed. Of this 119 are village panchayat union presidents, five panchayat union ward members, and two district panchayat union ward members were elected unopposed.
31,245 officials are involved in the counting process and 6,228 police personnel are deployed for duty in the counting centres spread in the nine districts.
Several security measures have been put in place to ensure that the counting goes on without interruptions. CCTV cameras have been installed at each of the counting centres, according to a statement by V Palani Kumar, State Election Commissioner. The results will be made available online, on the election commission website.
To prevent any untoward incidents, additional police forces have been deployed in certain districts such as Tirunelveli and Tenkasi which saw violence previously.