Poll defeat: DMK councillors play blame game

Trichy: New scenes and blame game unfolded in the monthly council meeting at Trichy corporation on Wednesday, held after two months due to the assembly election that resulted in a change of guard in the state. Attributing the poor electoral performance of DMK to projects proposed but not implemented in the city, a section of DMK councillors expressed dissatisfaction over the corporation's performance. Some DMK councillors defended the previous govt, claiming that the party lost despite serving the people."Underground drainage (UGD) work proposed in my ward has been on hold for months. Former minister (KN Nehru) while visiting my ward to thank voters for electing him expressed dissatisfaction over the road condition," Khajamalai Vijay, a DMK councillor from ward 60, said. Besides the govt, alliances also have seen changes with Congress abandoning DMK and moving to the TVK camp. A few Congress councillors skipped the meeting. Congress councillor P Govindarajan from ward 41 said he would work closely with the new govt through his party leaders to obtain funds. He claimed the DMK-led corporation performed well in the last four years."Our govt did several good works, yet we lost votes, but it was not because of our performance. Voters were deceived in this election," V Leela, a DMK councillor from 49, said. AIADMK councillor P Ambikapathi picked up an argument with mayor Mu Anbalagan asking why the council did not congratulate new CM Joseph Vijay. Independent councillor LIC K Shankar from ward 20 urged the council to rectify the miscalculation of solid waste management user charges for commercial properties. He said the continuing error in calculating charges shows TVK govt in a bad light.Meanwhile, as CPI councillor K Suresh urged the mayor to allocate funds for storm water drains according to the budget, DMK councillors urged the left party representative to seek funds from the new govt. "You are a part of the govt now, you must ask them," DMK councillors suggested in a lighter vein. Except for former minister Nehru, DMK candidates in the two other city seats, including former minister Anbil Mahesh in Thiruverumbur were defeated."We lost votes in my ward as new streetlights were not installed on time before elections," M Thajdeen, DMK councillor of Ward 38 in Thiruverumbur, said. Mu Anbalagan said the previous DMK govt sanctioned Rs4,500 crores for the city in the last four years. "Trichy corporation received substantial funds through the support of former CM and former minister. We must continue our good work for the next few months," he said.