Chennai: The western region of Tamil Nadu, also known as the Kongu belt, which has seven Parliament seats, has given a glimmer of hope for the AIADMK-BJP alliance since the longtime bastion of the AIADMK has not suffered much damage in the region due to the TTV Dhinakaran factor and the BJP's opposition not being strong.
The DMK alliance seems to be ahead in two of the seven seats, the AIADMK alliance in two, while the other three are heading for a close finish.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami’s native district of Salem lies in the Kongu region and he is staying at his home turf for the last ten days of his election campaign to protect the Salem constituency from falling into the hands of the DMK.
The AMMK has fielded a strong candidate in the seat but the AIADMK is fighting a close contest in the seat. In the neighbouring Namakkal constituency too, the fight is not lost for the AIADMK though the DMK ally KMDK, has an edge as the AIADMK is not a known face in the area.
In the Erode constituency, MDMK candidate A Ganeshamurthy is well poised to become the lone member of his party in the Lok Sabha. His calm and cordial nature and the support of farmers besides the campaign of his leader Vaiko adds to his prospects against the AIADMK candidate Manimaran, who is an outsider. The dollar city of Tiruppur provides the best hope for the AIADMK as the constituency has a sizeable population of North Indians who support the BJP. Besides, the DMDK and PMK have pockets of influence in the area and the CPI candidate Subbarayan lacks money power though there are no complaints against him.
Nilgiris is one of the key constituencies in the region as former Union Minister A Raja has chosen to fight from the hilly seat. He lost the elections last time due to the 2G spectrum allegations, but this time, Raja, a student wing leader of the Dravidar Kazhagam, the parent body of the DMK, looks all set to enter the Parliament again.
Though the DMK has taken up the Pollachi sexual torture case as a major issue in the state to cite the failure of law and order under the AIADMK regime, the epicentre of the crime still shows considerable support for the AIADMK. The AMMK candidate is a lightweight here and he poses no danger of a split in the AIADMK votes, while minister Velumani is leaving no stone unturned to win the seat which is his home turf.
Coimbatore is the only seat in Tamil Nadu which has bright prospects for the ‘Lotus’ since both the AIADMK and BJP has a support base in the city which has a large number of people from outside Tamil Nadu. The BJP which went on its own in the 2016 Assembly elections has polled 1,15,547 votes in the six Assembly segments of Coimbatore and the saffron party has fielded CP Radhakrishnan hailing from the Gounder community, a dominant one in numbers as well as financial clout in the area.
Also Read: Swaraj seeks Mulayam's response on Azam's 'khaki underwear' remark
