Main demands unfulfilled in Padmanabhapuram

Rural connectivity, tourism, remunerative price for rubber are the issues here

May 04, 2016 12:00 am | Updated 05:44 am IST

Situated in the middle of six Assembly constituencies, Padmanabhapuram has many places of archaeological importance, memorials and parks to its credit.

Several places of archaeological and historical importance such as Padmanabhapuram palace, tomb of De Lannoy at Udayagiri Fort, memorial of Devasahayam Pillai, Kumaraswamy Temple on Kumarakovil hillock, Keralapuram Vinayaga Temple and Peerappa durgah at Mettukadai in Thuckalay are situated in this constituency.

Since Hindu Nadars and Christian Nadars are in majority here, they will play an important role in electing their representative. The population of minority communities – Christians and Muslims – is also considerable here.

The constituency has a lot of private colleges.

Proper transport facility to remote villages, determination of remunerative price for rubber tapped in large quantities here and establishment of a rubber factory are the long-pending demands of the people of the constituency.

The demands for promotion of tourism activities around Padmanabhapuram and introduction of a circular bus service connecting all tourist spots in the district with Kanyakumari also remain unfulfilled.

As the area of Kalkulam taluk is over 40 square km, the people in the region have been demanding bifurcation of the taluk, but the demand does not seem to have attracted any attention from the successive governments.

Merged

After the delimitation process carried out in 2009, Pechipparai, Balamore, Surulode, Aruvikkari, Ayakkodu, Kumarankudi, Serukol, Ettracode, Kannanoor, Kattathurai, Thenkarai, Sadayamangalam, Kalkurichi, Muthalakurichi and Thikkanamcode panchayat unions, and Tirparappu, Ponmanai, Kulasekaram, Tiruvattar, Verkilampi, Attoor, Kothanalluoor, Kumarapuram, Vilavoor, Tiruvithanode and Thuckalay were merged with Padmanabhapuram Assembly constituency.

Former Minister K.P. Rajendra Prasad of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam nominee T. Mano Thangaraj, Desiya Mupokku Dravida Kazhagam candidate D. Jegannathan and C. Dharmaraj of the Bharatiya Janata Party are the prominent among the 14 candidates in the fray here.

Since 1977, the DMK and AIADMK won the constituency twice each, and the BJP, CPI (M), Janata Party (JP), Janata Party and an Independent candidate once.

N.A. Noor Mohammad of the Tamil Nadu Congress was elected twice in 1952 and 1954, Thompson Dharmaraj Daniel of the Indian National Congress was elected in 1957, Kunjan Nadar (Rayan Nadar), an Independent, in 1962, V. George of the Indian National Congress in 1967, and A. Swamidhas was elected twice in 1971 (on a Indian National Congress (Organisation) ticket) and 1977 (on a Janata Party ticket).

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.