Woman candidate, who lost in the civic polls, gives cake to voters in her ward

Despite losing, Seethalakshmi promised voters that she would continue to highlight civic issues in her ward

Sixty-two-year-old K. Selvi had a surprise visitor to her house at Anna Nagar in Vaniyambadi near Tirupattur. She recognised the visitor, V. Seethalaksmi, an independent candidate who lost in the recently held civic elections.

The winner, Subhashini, a DMK candidate, got 1,226 votes followed by Priyanka, an AIADMK candidate who secured 268 votes. Seethalakshmi secured 230 votes in the ward, which has 2,948 voters in total. Only three candidates had contested here.

As a thankful gesture, Seethalakshmi gave cake to the voters by visiting them, covering most of the 28 streets in her ward. “This is the first time I have contested in an election. Despite being a newcomer, many voted for me. So, I thanked them with a cake even though I lost,” she said.

A native of Rajaji Nagar in Bengaluru, 31-year-old Seethalakshmi, a mother of two, moved to Vaniyambadi after her marriage, a decade ago. Since then, along with her husband, S. Vadivelu, she had been involved in highlighting civic woes in the neighbourhood to the local bodies and the Tirupattur district administration. Being well-versed in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil and with a graduation in History, she was able to interact with many residents in the neighbourhood and understand local problems like bad roads, lack of street lights, garbage dumping, irregular water supply and power interruptions.

Areas like Dhandeeppettai, Nadar Colony, Kavankarai, Tiruvalluvar Nagar, Tiruvalluvar Bypass Nagar, Anna Nagar, Luther Van Colony and Miyan Colony come under 29th ward of the municipality, which has 36 wards in total. Most residents here are government staff, masons, house maids and petty traders. Despite losing, Seethalakshmi promised voters that she would continue to highlight civic issues in her ward.