Both the rival fronts, led by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), are involved in a fierce battle to gain the upper hand in central Tamil Nadu, comprising 41 Assembly constituencies spread over eight districts.
The presence of both the Chief Ministerial candidates — DMK president M. Karunanidhi in his home town Tiruvarur and AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa in the temple town of Srirangam — has made the poll scenario in the central districts crucial.
The people of the delta districts welcome the decision of these leaders to contest from the region, as they firmly believe this will help in solving the long-pending Cauvery water row, besides implementation of programmes for the development of the whole region. Both the leaders are facing relatively new faces: Mr. Karunanidhi is facing Kodavasal M. Rajendran of the AIADMK and Ms. Jayalalithaa N. Anand of the DMK. This has made the job easy for them and supporters of both the leaders claim that victory is a foregone conclusion.
Though the DMK-Congress alliance is formidable in the delta districts, taking the DMDK on board, the AIADMK appears to have tilted the balance in its favour in many constituencies. Both the Left parties have strong base in districts such as Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur and Tiruchi and this has provided an added advantage to the AIADMK front.
While the DMK combine is banking heavily on its achievements, the AIADMK front is leaving no stone unturned to cash in on the shortcomings of both the Centre and the State government. The 2G spectrum scam, power cut, price hike and law and order problem have been given priority by the AIADMK front.
Ms. Jayalalithaa was at her best, when she raised the Cauvery water row in her election meetings in Thanjavur district. She accused Mr. Karunanidhi of having done nothing to get the final Award of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal submitted in 2007, notified in the gazette. She has promised to take steps to implement the order and get Tamil Nadu's share of water, a much sought-after promise by the farming community.
The AIADMK cadre feel that the party is certainly sitting in the driver's seat, thanks to an anti-incumbency factor and the presence of the DMDK in its front. “There is no doubt that the AIADMK front has a clear-cut advantage”, asserts M. Selvaraj, State Council member of the CPI. “The alliance strength is a major morale booster to the AIADMK front and the various scams that rocked the ruling UPA have certainly put the DMK on the backfoot”, Mr. Selvaraj says.
On the DMK claim that it has fulfilled all its poll promises, Mr. Selvaraj said that many loopholes surfaced in the implementation of programmes and this was brought to the notice of the government time and again. But the government never took initiative to correct them, Mr. Selvaraj adds.
But the DMK men pooh-pooh the anti-incumbency factor. “There is no anti-incumbency factor; not even one per cent”, claims S. Regupathy, former Union Minister and DMK candidate for the Viralimalai seat in Pudukottai district. “Development is the focus of our campaign. The people of both the urban and rural areas commend the government for its welfare programmes. It is really a positive thing for the DMK that people recall the achievements of Mr. Karunanidhi and his schemes”, he adds.
Mr. Regupathy says that the DMK has every reason to seek the people's mandate, as it has fulfilled all its promises. The DMK cadre claim that the DMK has brought some concrete projects to the central districts, thanks to the close coordination between the State and the Centre.
There is a long list of achievements, including the Central University at Tiruvarur; the IT Park and prestigious Indian Institute of Management at Tiruchi; government medical colleges at Tiruvarur, Perambalur and Pudukottai; new BHEL unit at Tirumayam in Pudukottai district; two new railway line projects – between Nidamangalam and Mannargudi and between Nagore and Karaikal; Anna University of Technology, Tiruchi, that theDMK and the Congress could take credit for.
Being in the fray in the central districts, both Mr. Karunanidhi and Ms. Jayalalithaa have already spent reasonable time in reaching out to the voters. The AIADMK leader spent almost six days to make a whirlwind tour of all central districts, while Mr. Karunanidhi addressed election meetings in three districts.
The cadre of both the parties have made the presence of their leaders in the central districts a prestige issue. They are indulging in no-holds-barred campaign to win as many seats as possible from this region. The DMK front is facing problems in constituencies such as Vedaranyam and Musiri, owing to the presence of rebels. While the sitting DMK MLA S. K. Vedarathnam is in the fray in Vedaranyam which was allotted to the PMK, former DMK MLA Kannaiyan is testing his popularity in Musiri, also allotted to the Congress. The Congress is facing a tough time in Manapparai, as former AIADMK Minister, K. Ponnusamy is in the fray as an independent.
