A devastating flood had submerged much of Chennai in December last year.
Rajeswari, a fish seller, cannot forget how everything she had was washed away when floods struck Chennai in December last year.
She lives in Saidapet area that was among the worst-hit areas. It has been more than five months and her family is still homeless in the neighbourhood along the River Adyar.
"(The government) said they would give us homes but they did not. They announced Rs 5,000 as relief but we did not receive that either," she said.
Not far away, Murugan, an auto-rickshaw driver, lives in sewage under the Saidapet Bridge. The place his home was is now littered with tons of garbage.
His new-born grandson inhales the stench. His wife and son lie a few feet away from a pool of sewage where also lie a few pots of drinking water. The 42-year-old says anger among many like him who lost everything is perhaps the reason the DMK gained seats in the city at the cost of the AIADMK.
In his campaigns in the run up to polls DMK Treasurer M K Stalin had sharply criticised the Jayalalithaa government's alleged failings in handling the December floods.
Murugan said, "No one gave us food. Nobody came under the bridge. Now a few came to ask for votes. See our drinking water, its right next to the toilet."
With 16 seats, Chennai used to be the DMK's bastion. But in the 2011 election, they were down to two seats. That has now gone up to 10 again while the AIADMK is left with six in the results of this year's assembly elections.
The DMK may have reclaimed Chennai but how much it can help Chennaiites while out of power, is what many ask. But for the AIADMK, the wafer-thin win has presented an opportunity to make a difference.