Chennai: Voters in Tamilnadu are the least satisfied with their Members of Parliament. So says a survey by CVoter-IANS, which is perhaps a true reflection of the impression of most people here. For, many of them do not even know the name of the MP representing their constituency. But we all know that, other than those representing Dharmapuri and Kanyakumari, every MP is from the AIADMK, who contested the 2014 elections on the ‘two leaves’ symbol.
Looking back at the election scene five years ago, Tamilnadu was ruled by J Jayalalithaa and one of the defining slogans then was ‘Lady vs Modi’. It was then that the BJP had raised the ‘development’ bogey, projecting Narendra Modi as the only politician capable of taking India on the path of ‘development’.
Everyone, particularly the youth, fell for it all over India. But not in Tamilnadu, where there was actually a challenge to the touted supremacy of Modi. The ‘Lady vs Modi’ was an implicit suggestion that Jayalalithaa, too, could lead India well. Whatever it was, Tamilnadu voted almost en masse for the AIADMK.
The Dharmapuri seat went to PMK’s Anbumani Ramadoss and Kanyakumari chose BJP’s Pon Radhakrishnan, both of them belonging to the NDA that finally captured power and ruled the country in the past five years.
Looking back, many voters in Tamilnadu might even be resenting their decision in 2014, something the survey does not make clear.
However, the process for the next Lok Sabha elections has kicked off on a totally different note, not just in Tamilnadu but all over the country. At the national level, the dominant question is: Should Modi be re-elected or not? The same question is relevant to Tamilnadu voters, too, though they have more pressing local issues to rake up.
But unlike the last time when parties contested individually without putting up a united fight against the then mighty AIADMK, led by Jayalalithaa, this season has united parties into two major alliances, leaving out the AMMK of T T V Dhinakaran, Nam Tamilar Katchi of Seeman and Makkal Needhi Maiam of Kamal Haasan, which would all have to plough lonely furrows.
The DMK alliance has in its fold the CPI, CPI-M, MDMK, IUML, Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi, IJK, VCK and, of course, the Congress, which is seen as a potential alternative to the BJP at the Centre.
The AIADMK, despite having 37 sitting MPs, now aspires for just 20 seats, giving the rest to allies like the PMK, DMDK, Puthiya Tamilagam, TMC, Puthiya Needhi Katchi and the BJP, which is contesting in just five seats.
The BJP is colliding head-on with the national rival Congress in just two constituencies: Kanyakumari, which both parties can boast is their citadel, and Sivaganga, where the fight is expected to be between two bigwigs, BJP’s H Raja and Congress’ Karti Chidambaram.
Another major battle ground could be Thoothukudi where BJP State president Tamilisai Soundarajan faces DMK’s Kanimozhi in a terrain that saw needless bloodshed not too long ago during anti-Sterlite protest.
Other constituencies that the Hindutva espousing right wing party is contesting are Coimbatore, where the rival is a left wing Communist, and Ramanathapuram where the opponent is from the Islamic party IUML.
The BJP’s ally DMDK is facing the DMK in Chennai North and Kallakurichi, the Congress in Tiruchi and Virudhunagar.
Another ally, the PMK, is facing the DMK in Central Chennai, Sriperumbudur, Arakkonam, Dharmapuri, Dindigul and Cuddalore, and the VCK, contesting in the DMK symbol, in Villupuram.
VCK founder Thol Thirumavalavan is fighting the AIADMK in Chidambaram, while Dr K Krishnaswamy, founder of the other Dalit party in the State, Puthiya Tamilagam, is facing the DMK in Tenkasi.
Not just Dr Krishnaswamy, this election has a plethora of medical practitioners in the fray. The opponent of PMK’s Dr Anbumani Ramadoss in Dharmapuri is Dr S Senthil Kumar of the DMK, which has fielded Dr Kalanidhi Veerasamy (North Chennai) and D Gowtham Sigamani (Kallakurichi). In fact all parties have doctors in their lists. AIADMK has P Venugopal (Tiruvallur) and J Jayavardhan (South Chennai), PMK has two others, A Vaithilingam (Sriperumbudur) and R Govindasamy (Cuddalore), DMDK has V Elangovan (Tiruchi), BJP has Tamilisai Soundararajan (Tirunelveli) and Congress may field Thambi Vijaykumar (Kanyakumari).
Article: G Babu Jayakumar