The red soil Sivagangai kingdom, part of the composite Ramanathapuram district till it was carved out as a separate district in 1984, was ruled by Queen ‘Veeramangai’ Velu Nachiyar when the mighty British Empire met its first fiasco and the scion of the royal family became the first Indian queen to fight against the British.
Hailed as India’s Joan of Arc, the widow queen, ably supported by Marudhu brothers, revolted against the British, about 85 years before Rani of Jhansi challenged the colonial power. Taking to arms after the British forces killed her husband, Velu Nachiyar formed an army in alliance with Hyder Ali and attacked the British in 1780.
Having inherited the legacy of the 18th century brave queen, the district, with the Sivaganga Lok sabha constituency, shot into the limelight when former Union Minister P Chidambaram, who held the Home and Finance portfolios in the Union Cabinet, was elected for record seven terms.
Three centuries down the line, Sivaganga is bogged down with an array of civic and drinking water problems and relegated as a backward district with no industrial development and agricultural growth.
Paddy, plantain and sugarcane are grown in the constituency but farmers find agriculture less remunerative in the absence of assured irrigation facilities. They demand that the district’s credit of water from Vaigai dam be revised. As per the existing arrangement, Madurai, Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram share the Vaigai water on a 2:3:7 ratio respectively.
More than 70 per cent of the population depend on agriculture and a large section of sugarcane growing farmers have almost given up cultivation as sugar mills have failed to clear their dues for long. The constituency is blessed with the finest graphite reserves and people regret that there are no ancillary industries to exploit the reserves and provide employment opportunities.
Sivaganga is dominated by Mukkulathors, followed by Dalits, Mutharaiars, Chettiyars and Yadavas. Major political parties have made it a point to field candidates from the dominant community. Incumbent CPI MLA S. Gunasekaran, who got elected in 2006 and 2011 with the support of DMK and AIADMK respectively, is sweating it out for a hat-trick on being fielded by the DMDK-PWF-TMC combine.
The DMK and AIADMK, which had allotted the seat to their allies in the last two elections, have fielded candidates making the contest tough.
The AIADMK has nominated Sivaganga Panchayat Union Chairman G. Baskaran and the DMK, former Kalayarkoil Panchayat Union Chairman Sathianathan alias Meppel M. Sakthi.
The Pattali Makkal Katchi and Indiya Jananayaka Katchi have fielded candidates in the multi-cornered contest. The All India Forward Bloc leader Sridhar Vandaiyar has also entered the fray and he is likely to cut into the Mukkulathor vote bank.
