Civic polls result dampens Congress' revival hope in Tamil Nadu

NEW DELHI: The just-concluded civic polls in Tamil Nadu have once again shown the lack of depth for the Congress in the state. The Congress, which is represented by two Cabinet ministers and a minister of state with independent charge, was pushed to the fifth position in the civic polls.

The state, which sends 39 MPs to the Lok Sabha, is critical for the Congress' power project in Delhi. The late Kamaraj was the last Congress chief minister of the state. The Congress has been depending on either of the Dravidian parties since it was thrown out of power in 1967. After the last Lok Sabha elections, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has been making a series of efforts aimed at reviving the organisation. But if the civic poll outcome is anything to go by, the party has a long way to go.

The victory of the AIADMK is worrying for all its contenders. While the DMK continues to be on the decline, it dealt a blow to the plans of the DMDK to project itself as an alternative to the two Dravidian parties in the state.

Actor Vijaykant's DMDK, which was in alliance with AIADMK made splendid gains in the assembly polls by overshadowing the DMK. In the civil polls, the DMDK had forged an alliance with the Left parties after Jayalalithaa dumped it. The ruling party put up a impressive show, pushing DMK to a distant second as it won a majority of the posts in the elections held on October 17 and 19 to over 1.31 lakh posts.