The growing worries of the agrarian population, the political controversy sparked by a sexual abuse case and the dearth of infrastructure facilities have come to dominate the discourse in the picturesque Pollachi Parliamentary constituency.
Incumbent AIADMK MP C. Mahendran, a popular personality in the region, and the DMK’s K. Shanmugasundaram are facing off in a key election in the western constituency.
In 2014, Mr. Mahendran emerged the victor, polling a massive 4,17,092 votes and defeating his nearest rival E.R. Eswaran (2,76,118 votes) of the Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi (KMDK) and the DMK’s Pongalur N. Palanisamy, a former Minister, who polled 2,51,090 votes. Congress nominee A. Selvaraj came a distant fourth with a mere 30,014 votes.
Mr. Eswaran, who contested on the BJP’s ‘Lotus’ symbol in 2014, is supporting the DMK-Congress front this time. The DMK also hopes to cash in on the support of the MDMK, which has an appreciable presence here. The MDMK’s C. Krishnan was elected from this constituency in 1999 and 2004. Subsequently, the AIADMK won back-to-back elections.
Accounting for almost 50% of the State’s coconut production, the agrarian landscape of Pollachi is largely dependent on water from the Thirumurthy dam for the irrigation of around 3.8 lakh acres, and the inter-state Parambikkulam Aliyar Project for the irrigation of 50,000 acres.
Lack of rain and less share of the water released from the dams have hit the agrarian sector. The production of coconut has reduced by 10% as several lakh mature trees have dried up. This has also affected the export of coir and allied products — another major revenue generator.
The recent political controversy over the alleged sexual abuse of young women by a group of youth has dominated the discourse in the constituency for much of the past month. The DMK is hoping to benefit from people’s concern for women’s safety after the details of the case became public. A section of women voters feels that the case was mishandled, though the government initially ordered a CB-CID probe and later opted for a CBI probe.
Mr. Mahendran, who claims to have brought infrastructure projects to the tune of ₹5,000 crore to Pollachi, says the materialising of the Anamalai Nallar scheme, an inter-state project, will bring relief to the agrarian sector.
Road and rail links
When it comes to road and rail connectivity, Pollachi is often ignored. While the widening of the Coimbatore-Pollachi highway is nearing completion, Pollachi is nowhere on the railway map, with newly-laid BG rails waiting to be utilised.
“Several trains that connected Pollachi with other cities like Madurai, Rameswaram, Coimbatore, Palani, Dindigul, Kodaikanal and Palakkad before the gauge conversion are not running now. Services have been reduced to the single Coimbatore–Pollachi fast passenger, after broad gauge tracks replaced meter gauge ones,” points out R. Ravi, a commuter.
The Valparai Assembly segment, which is geographically cut off from the rest of the constituency due to its high elevation, is the least developed among the six Assembly segments. Plantation workers, who constitute the majority of voters, are in need of a candidate who understands their day-to-day issues, including the ever-increasing instances of human-animal conflict.
The caste factor also plays a major role in Pollachi. Major parties have fielded candidates from the dominant Gounder community. Dalits also have a sizeable share of votes in the region.
The Makkal Needhi Maiam’s Mookambika Rathinam and the AMMK’s S. Muthukumar (Independent) are among the candidates in the fray.
