Saidapet is among those constituencies that have existed since the first Assembly elections in the State. Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi contested and won from here in 1967 and 1971.
The constituency has a large working class population and houses two prestigious technical institutions – IIT-Madras and Anna University — the Raj Bhavan and the Guindy industrial estate, which is among the first in the country. Besides the employees who live on the campus of Anna University and the IIT-M and the Governor's office, residents of the upmarket Kotturpuram and squatters along the Adyar river near the Maraimalai Adigal bridge also belong to the constituency.
The constituency comprises nine divisions of Chennai Corporation - Saidapet West (132); Kumaran Nagar West (133); Kumaran Nagar South (134); Saidapet East (135); Kalaignar Karunanidhi Nagar (136); G.D. Naidu Nagar East (138); G.D. Naidu Nagar South (139); Guindy West (140); and Guindy East (141). There will be 208 polling booths. As part of the delimitation, V.O.C Nagar (Division 137) was merged with T.Nagar constituency.
As on January 10, 2011, there are 2,10,880 voters in the Saidapet constituency. Of these, 1,05,518 are men, 1,05,337 women and there are 25 others.
While Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidates have won the Assembly elections eight times, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Congress candidates won from here thrice. In 2001 and 2006, the winners won by a margin of less than 6,000 votes.
In 2006, G. Senthamizhan of AIADMK beat C.R. Baskaran of Pattali Makkal Katchi by a margin of 5,905 votes. In 2001, Mr. Baskaran lost to V.Perumal of DMK by a margin of 3,881 votes.
Apart from the AIADMK and DMK, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party candidates are also in the fray. The AIADMK has re-nominated Mr. Senthamizhan, a lawyer by profession, for the seat while the DMK has fielded M.Magesh Kumar, who until recently was councillor of Division 139.
The candidates, V. Kalidass (BJP), P.M. Pragalathan (BSP), Mr. Magesh Kumar (DMK) and Mr. Senthamizhan, are all residents of the constituency.
Mr. Kalidass wants to free the administration of temples in the constituency from the “clutches” of HR&CE Department.
When the parties propagate atheism, the temples which represent the faith of the people can never function well, he argues. There are 15 independents contesting from Saidapet constituency. Most of them are self-employed as vegetable vendors or autorickshaw drivers. They are in the fray as they want to work for the lower socioeconomic sections in the constituency, they say.
The poorer sections of the constituency have benefitted as Mayor M. Subramanian, who was elected as councillor from Division 140, has helped improve the lives of the residents by launching quite a few of the civic body's projects in Saidapet.
He launched the affordable housing scheme for the city in Saidapet. A new building is coming up to house the Corporation maternity centre. The State government built the Anna Centenary Library in Kotturpuram.
A long-pending demand of the residents for a subway in Jones Road has eased traffic congestion. But in several localities, residents have a list of woes.
Shop owners in Kotturpuram Housing Board Colony are demanding a reduction in the rent. “The rent is exorbitant even though we only cater to the needs of the residents in the locality. Besides, it is not a commercial complex,” says S. Thirunavukkarasu, Kotturpuram Merchant's Association president.
In the thickly populated slums, ration shops are always overcrowded and short on supplies. In the slums along Adyar river, people are worried about relocating to Semmenchery as part of the Metro Rail project as they enjoy uninterrupted water supply and have been sourcing electricity from the nearby veterinary hospital. They have also financially benefited as their houses get flooded every monsoon.
The slum's proximity to hospitals, schools and other services is outweighing concerns such as lack of clean toilets and mosquito menace. But if these concerns are addressed, then they would relocate, says Jagannathan. “We want our children to grow up in a good environment with better facilities,” he says. While upper middle class residents in Kotturpuram complain of poor parking facilities in their locality, residents of IIT-M call for planned infrastructure. Josephine A, a resident of IIT-M says, “In spite of the number of schools located in the area, there is no pedestrian crossing or footpath, particularly near the CLRI Kendriya Vidyalaya. The Kotturpuram railway station is also half constructed and poorly maintained."
What they say
G. Senthamizhan, AIADMK candidate:
We could not take up many developmental works due to lack of support from the government. I spent my constituency fund in improving infrastructure in schools and colleges. We wanted to construct more ration shops in R.V. Nagar, Bharathi Nagar and Jothi Managar in Divisions 132, 139 and 141. We had also sought a proper bus shelter for the Maraimalai Adigal bus stop.
M. Magesh Kumar, DMK candidate:
We need an improved sewage system.
The existing system is 30 years old. Our constituency needs a 100-bed hospital so that people need not be rushed to the GH or the Royapettah GH. We want to build a wall along the Adyar River to prevent flooding during monsoon.
It is necessary to develop the Guindy industrial estate to provide more job opportunities for youngsters.
