TN Local Body Polls: BJP Leader Contests as Independent Candidate, Gets 1 Vote

D Karthik stood independently for the post of Kurudampalayam panchayat ward councillor.

A BJP youth wing leader, who contested as an independent candidate in the rural local body polls in Coimbatore on 9 October has made headlines for only getting a single vote.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) youth wing leader, who contested as an independent candidate in the rural local body elections in Coimbatore, the polling for which took place on Saturday, 9 October, is making news on social media for only getting a single vote.

D Karthik was contesting for the position of ward councillor in the elections held to the Periyanaickenpalayam union Kurudampalayam panchayat ward number 9.

Counting is still underway in 74 centres in Tamil Nadu, after by-elections were held for 13 posts, including district panchayat ward member, village panchayat ward member, and village municipal chairperson.

Karthik's loss attracted more attention as he reportedly has five members in his family. However, speaking to the media, Karthik explained that his family members voted in ward number 4 and therefore could not give him their votes, TNM reported.

Following the BJP functionary's loss, social media was inundated with jokes mocking the loser, with over 12,000 tweets comprising of hashtag #SingleVoteBJP.

Poet-activist Meena Kandaswamy too, joined in on the online sentiment and wrote on Twitter, “BJP candidate gets only one vote in local body elections. Proud of the four other voters in his household who decided to vote for others.”

However, Karthik, who is a BJP youth functionary, stood independently for the post of Kurudampalayam panchayat ward councillor.

In the Kurudampalayam panchayat, DMK was at the fore with their candidate Arul Raj, winning 387 votes. Meanwhile, AIADMK's Vaithiyalingam obtained 196 votes.

Apart from Coimbatore bye-elections, polls were held for the local administrative bodies in Tamil Nadu districts of Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Ranipet, Villupuram, Vellore, Tiruppatur, and Kallakurichi.

(With inputs from The News Minute.)