Chennai: Contrary to expectations that former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran will have a cakewalk in Central Chennai considered as one of the bastions of the DMK, he is being forced to sweat it out for a victory by his rival
Although Dayanidhi, an elite who does not mix with the people and meets them only during elections has no connection with the DMK cadre, he is fully banking on the strong electoral vote share of the DMK in the seat.
PMK candidate and businessman Sam Paul, who is fighting with the support of AIADMK and BJP is leaving no stone unturned to make a mark in the contest.
Central Chennai is one seat won by the DMK even after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and hospitalization of AIADMK founder MGR in the 1984 Parliament elections.
The constituency carved out of North and South Chennai in 1977 forms the core of the Chennai city as major destinations including St. George Fort, Madras High Court, Marina Beach and Chepauk cricket stadium besides Egmore and Central railway stations lie within the seat.
In the 11 Lok Sabha elections held in Central Chennai, the DMK had won seven times and Dayanidhi’s father ‘Murasoli’ Maran had won it thrice in 1996, 1998 and 1999.
Congress emerged successful in the constituency in 1989 and 1991. The only time the seat was won by the AIADMK was in 2014 when AIADMK swept the parliamentary elections under the leadership of J Jayalalithaa.
The major complaint of the voters in the constituency is traffic congestion and they demand more flyovers, pedestrian pathways, underground parking facilities, sub-ways and consumer-friendly metro services in the city.
Inundation of water during rains is one of the major woes of the people who are demanding the relaying of stormwater drains throughout the city.
AIADMK government faces people’s resentment in the area as no projects to reduce traffic woes or improve the city’s infrastructure had been taken up in the last seven years.
However, most of the DMK cadre are unhappy with the style of functioning of Dayanidhi Maran who is not easily accessible for
But, those voters who are opposed to the BJP and AIADMK governments will naturally go for the ‘Rising Sun’ and Maran is heavily banking on it.
Sensing people’s dissent against Dayanidhi Maran’s candidature, the rebel AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran has allocated the constituency to SDPI, a Muslim outfit. The SDPI candidate
Realising the situation, Maran who was initially complacent has started a rigorous campaign belatedly.
The North Indian population in the area comprising businessmen, who usually support the BJP, are unlikely to vote for Sam Paul, the candidate of the AIADMK front and they are vowing to support the DMK candidate this time.
If Maran wins back the trust of minorities who form a sizeable chunk of voters and pacify the DMK workers in the area to ensure a coordinated campaign, he may manage to edge out his SDPI rival or even score a comfortable victory.
Read
