DMK in lead, AIADMK trails in TN rural local polls

Chennai, Jan 3 (IANS) Counting of votes in the rural local body elections held has entered second day on Friday with DMK and its allies establishing lead over the ruling AIADMK.The couting of votes began on Thursday morning for the two-phased elections held in 27 districts.After the lead trends alternating between DMK and AIADMK alliances for a large part of Thursday, later the former started gaining upper hand.According to the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission (TNSEC) out of the 515 Distrit Panchayat Union Ward Member posts the DMK has won 115, AIADMK 75 and others 26.In the case of 5,090 Panchayat Union Ward Member posts, the DMK 1,647, AIADMK 1,342 and others 902.According to the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission (TNSEC), the first phase saw 76.19 per cent polling, while the second phase saw 77.73 per cent turnout.Over 2.31 lakh candidates contested the polls for 91,975 posts. The posts include Gram Panchayat Ward member, Gram Panchayat President, Panchayat Union ward member and District Panchayat Union Ward member, among others.
--IANS vj/adr/