Thyagaraya Nagar, one of the busiest commercial areas in Chennai, was one of the localities that suffered the most during the historic December floods last year. The floods brought life to a standstill for almost five consecutive days as shopkeepers lost their goods and residents ran for their lives after water entered their homes, drowning their belongings.
The perception of the voters about how the state government responded to the floods in the area will play a major role in deciding whether the ruling party will keep the constituency for itself.
While a sum of Rs. 5,000 was distributed by the government as immediate relief, residents say that damaged roads hadn’t been re-laid until recently. Civic issues such as water logging and in turn water scarcity, traffic congestion and interrupted power supply continue to dominate.
Parties’ pitch
Since 1957, the DMK has won the constituency five times and AIADMK won it thrice. The Indian National Congress and Tamil Manila Congress have also been successful in the past. Though there is a four-cornered contest in the State, history points to a contest between DMK, which has allied with the INC, and the AIADMK.
DMK’s candidate N.S. Kanimozhi, who is a gynaecologist, says that she is primarily focussing on projecting her party’s manifesto that promises education loan waiver. “T. Nagar is a constituency in which there are a lot of young people who are likely to have taken education loans. Also, there is a need to ensure uninterrupted power supply in the area,” she told The Hindu , adding, “we need to prepare for the monsoon. If elected, I will widen the drains so that water can flow freely.”
‘Minimal problems’
On the contrary, AIADMK candidate Sathyanarayanan said that the constituency doesn’t have any major problems except water scarcity in parts of West Mambalam. “The CM made sure that there are very minimal problems in the constituency. The only issue plaguing the constituency is water scarcity which can be solved if we build a water tank in the area,” he said.
PMK candidate V. Vinoth has also been running a spirited campaign on the streets where he has been seen engaging people in a dialogue and on social media. “Wouldn’t you rather prefer a government that gives you a job and enables you to buy a mobile phone by yourself?” he asks. BJP candidate H. Raja had earlier promised that he would curb crime in the constituency, and wouldn’t indulge in corruption.
