Captain slips to a poor fifth

The DMDK, which had wrested the position of the principal opposition party from the DMK after the Assembly Elections in April this year, has come up a dismal fifth in the race for the local bodies, with independents and the Congress winning more seats than the fledgling party.The Vijayakanth-led party rode piggyback on the AIADMK in the April Assembly Elections and secured 28 seats, edging out the DMK from the principal opposition’s role. But for the local body polls, the AIADMK decided to go it alone.Former allies of the AIADMK-the Left parties-too have come a cropper, winning only a couple of municipalities, a few town panchayats and about 300 wards. The MDMK, which decided to boycott the April elections after seat-sharing talks with the AIADMK failed, too left much to be desired, managing to win just oneMunicipal Corporation, a few town panchayats and over 150 wards.The surprise package, however, was delivered by the BJP, which silently captured at least 13 town panchayats and a couple of municipalities and won over 250 wards across the state. The Assembly Election result was a mandate for change; the local body poll result is, perhaps, a vote for governance.