Karaikal has been a political nerve centre of the Union Territory of Puducherry in spite of a poor development track record. It has the unique distinction of having elected three of its Chief Ministers.
Though Karaikal is a small region with five Assembly segments (number of constituencies reduced from six to five after delimitation exercise) it was deciding the political destiny of the Union Territory and most of the Ministries. Karaikal has an electorate 1,50,738 voters.
Any political party to have the required numbers to form the Government have to depend upon Karaikal legislators. Several Ministries of Congress and non-Congress governments were formed by them because of the political acumen of most of the members elected from the region.
The region has elected three Chief Ministers, M.O.H. Farook, S. Ramassamy and P. Shanmugam. Both Mr. Farook and Mr. Shanmugam were kingmakers and ensured that the political climate in Puducherry was under the direct influence of Karaikal region.
Mr. Farook was Chief Minister of Puducherry thrice (1967-68, 1969-74 and 1985-90). He headed the governments of both the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Congress. Mr. Ramassamy was the Chief Minister for 22 days in 1974 and from 1977-78.
Mr. Shanmugam was responsible for formation of several ministries including the one formed by V. Vaithilingam and D. Ramachandiran. He became the Chief Minister after getting elected from Yanam region in the 2000 elections.
During the 2011 Assembly elections, the AINRC was able to annexe Thirunallar and Nedungadu (Reserve) constituencies due to the local influence of the candidates. The Congress is now trying to cash in on the lopsided development of the region under the AINRC regime and is keen to gain enough ground in Karaikal that has returned Congress candidates in most of the elections held between 1963 and 2006.
Historically, the region has been neglected and backward among the four enclaves leading to the formation of Karaikal Struggle Group which champions the welfare of people and the creation of a separate Union Territory with Karaikal as its headquarters.
“In the last 60 years Karaikal has been neglected by all governments and this made the region most backward. While Puducherry developed in all areas Karaikal had become the most backward region. Hence, Karaikal should be accorded the status of a Union Territory and be brought under the administrative control of New Delhi to ensure its growth and development,” said S.P. Selvashanmugam, convenor of Karaikal Struggle Group.
