The Congress has entered the electoral fray in the Mayiladuthurai Lok Sabha constituency where it was routed in 2014.
The party has fielded R. Sudha — a Madras High Court advocate hailing from Gummidipoondi in Tiruvallur district and considered an “outsider”, in this predominantly agrarian constituency. The party is banking on the arithmetic of the alliance headed by the DMK to work in its favour.
The candidature of Ms. Sudha, State Mahila Congress president who accompanied party leader Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kashmir to Kanniyakumari, came as a surprise when the party high command announced her as the candidate in the eleventh hour.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Congress’s high-profile candidate and three-time MP Mani Shankar Aiyar, suffered a severe drubbing and finished fourth.
With the AIADMK fielding P. Babu, a native of this constituency and the Pattali Makkal Katchi’s candidate M.K. Stalin of Maruthuvakudi village in neighbouring Thanjavur district also in the fray, a high-voltage poll battle is being witnessed this time. Mr. Babu is the son of S. Pavunraj, former AIADMK MLA from Poompuhar and the party’s Mayiladuthurai district secretary. Interestingly, this is the maiden poll battle in a Lok Sabha election for all the three main candidates. Naam Tamilar Katch has fielded P. Kaliyammal whose political speeches have been widely shared in the social media.
This is the first time that this constituency is witnessing the general elections since the formation of Mayiladuthurai district in 2020 after being bifurcated from Nagapattinam district. While Mayiladuthurai, Sirkazhi, Poompuhar Assembly segments come under Mayiladuthurai district, the remaining three are part of Thanjavur district. Parts of the tail-end areas of the fertile delta region come under this agrarian constituency.
The constituency has a strong presence of Vanniyars and Dalits besides a significant population of fisherfolk in the 28 coastal villages in Sirkazhi and Tharangampadi taluks. It has a sizeable Muslim population in various pockets, including at Pandaravadai, Papanasam, and Thiruvidaimarudhur. Interestingly, all the three key contestants — Ms. Sudha, Mr. Babu, and Mr. Stalin — belong to Vanniyar community, with each one of them hitting the ground touring the length and breadth of the constituency seeking support.
Neutral voters in the constituency claim that the strength of the Congress has weakened over the years and it was now heavily banking on the alliance arithmetic to work in its favour. The AIADMK is counting on its traditional support base and the two leaves symbol, besides the perceived anti-incumbency against the ruling party in the State to give a tough fight to the Congress.
Mr. Stalin, who is the chairman of Aduthurai town panchayat and a known face in the three Assembly segments in Thanjavur district, is trying hard to cash in on the party’s substantial support base here.
List of demands
While the political parties have gone all out to woo the voters, the electorate have a long list of demands, many of which are yet to be fulfilled.
Being an agrarian constituency, it is time the governments at the Centre and in the State seriously think of establishing units to make value-added products of farm produce at the village level which in turn would develop rural economy and generate employment locally, said P. Kalyanam, national organiser, Self-Sufficient Green Villages Movement, based at Arupathy.
A national-level institute was required in the constituency to promote natural farming technologies to protect the soil. With seawater intrusion being high in coastal areas, new technologies should be introduced to protect groundwater, said Mr. Kalyanam.
The long-pending demand for the revival of Mayiladuthurai-Tharangambadi railway line and its extension up to Karaikal to make it a circular route remains unfulfilled.
Kumbakonam is the hub for devotees visiting various temples in the temple town and those in its vicinity. Hence, spiritual tourism should be developed at Kumbakonam, said A. Giri, a resident of Kumbakonam. Demands for setting up a food processing unit, a prototype development centre with modern common facilities for manufacturing traditional brass lamps at Nachiarkoil, a Central government-run veterinary college with a hospital to provide all types of treatment for animals and cattle are among the other needs of the electorate.
