Madurai and other southern districts of Tamil Nadu have been neglected as no big-ticket investments have been made in this region. So, if I get elected to the Lok Sabha, I will make efforts to develop not just Madurai but all the districts down south because this region deserves development, says BJP’s candidate for Madurai Lok Sabha constituency, Raama Sreenivasan.
Talking to The Hindu, he says the very failures of the ruling DMK government are BJP’s strengths in the State. “There is anti-incumbency in Tamil Nadu. People are upset and tired of the corrupt practices of the DMK,” he says.
Unlike 2019 Lok Sabha election, which saw anti-Modi wave in Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been receiving good reception in the State now. He has gained the trust of Tamil people. The number of schemes of the Centre and beneficiaries under them have increased. There is a notion that food grains supplied through ration shops are provided only by the State government alone. Many are not aware Centre’s part in funding the Public Distribution System, Mr. Sreenivasan says.
On how BJP will fare in Madurai, he says the charisma of Mr. Modi will tilt the balance in their favour. The AIADMK will be pushed to the third place, and wondered how the party could field P. Saravanan who questioned the validity of the thumb impression of the party’s former party general secretary Jayalalithaa in a form for the by-election to Tirupparankundram.
At least Su. Venkatesan of the CPI(M) has an ideology and sticks to it, he says.
On the delay in execution of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) project in Madurai, he says the then AIADMK government delayed in identifying and providing land for the project. After much delay, Madurai was chosen and the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for the project in 2019. However, COVID-19 pandemic and JICA fund issue led to further delay.
The AIIMS-Madurai, when it starts functioning, will be bigger than the one in Delhi. Mr. Modi only gave the project to Tamil Nadu. Classes have started for students from the Government Medical College and Hospital in Ramanathapuram. The Madurai campus will be ready in 2026, he says.
Pointing to the other projects implemented in Madurai, he says it was the BJP which gave the city the 7.3 km long elevated corridor on New Natham Road. On the presence of a large number of toll plazas and high toll, he says the Central government will introduce sensory systems, by replacing toll plazas, to collect toll. It will ensure reasonable toll collection - only for the distance travelled by a vehicle.
He says the BJP has released a manifesto with focus on Madurai and southern districts. Madurai has all along been portrayed by Tamil movies as a city of crime and violence which is not so. Because of its negative image, investors are wary of parking their money here. This must be changed so that more industries are started and so many jobs generated in the southern districts, he says.
It is said that senior BJP leaders are confident that Mr. Sreenivasan, an educated person, if elected to the Parliament from Madurai, may be inducted into the cabinet, while it will not be so for other contestants even if they are elected. So the BJP candidate is the best bet for Madurai, it is felt.
