CHENNAI: In the urban local body elections in Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram district, independent candidates defeated established political parties in two panchayats. Independent candidates dominated the Sayalkudi and Kamuthi town panchayats, capturing all 15 seats in the former and losing one seat to the BJP's Kamuthi J. Sathya in the latter. In Kamuthi, the DMK did not even have a candidate, while in Sayilkudi, a few of its candidates ran but were soundly defeated.
S. Manickavel, an independent candidate, received 450 votes, the most of any candidate in the Sayalkudi town panchayat, while another candidate, R. Mariyappan, received 277 votes, the least of any independent candidate in the panchayat.
In these two town panchayats, both Dravidian main parties — the DMK and the AIADMK — came up empty-handed, leaving only the BJP to stand up and confront the caste and religious authorities who backed these independent candidates.
Eleven candidates, including BJP candidate J. Sathya and ten independents, were elected unopposed in Kamuthi town panchayat elections, which were held in four wards. All four seats were won by independent candidates.
Independent candidates also made a name for themselves by winning 6 of the 15 wards in the Mudukulathur town panchayat. Independent candidates also won in 5 of the 18 wards in Mandapam town panchayat, pushing AIADMK to third place in these constituencies.
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