While Chennai Central is among the smallest Parliamentary constituencies in Tamil Nadu size-wise, it is often touted as the most multicultural and multilinguistic, with a large number of Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Muslims, and Christians calling it their home.
Marina beach, Cooum, Buckingham Canal, and Otteri Nullah dominate the landscape of the constituency, which also has many high-rise buildings, bustling commercial areas, and famous educational institutions. A few segments of the constituency were affected by floods during the last northeast monsoon. However, this summer, residents have started complaining about water scarcity to candidates campaigning in their localities.
The constituency has gained political significance owing to popular candidates, such as DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran, DMDK’s B. Parthasarathy, and BJP’s Vinoj P. Selvam, contesting here. The constituency has a dominant presence of Hindi-speaking electors in Assembly segments such as Harbour, Dalits in segments such as Egmore, and Muslims in Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni and Thousand Lights.
Former Congress councillor S. Mangal Raj said Chennai Central was politically significant because of the communal harmony among all sections of society. Mr. Maran has focused on implementing civic infrastructure projects utilising the funds from the MP Local Area Development Scheme, DMK leader and Minister P.K. Sekarbabu said.
“Immediately after Mr. Maran became the Chennai Central MP in 2019, he facilitated distribution of food, clothing, and other essential commodities to residents of the constituency during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the direction of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, he visited flood-affected neighbourhoods for relief and rescue operations. He walks with people of all faiths, protecting their interests,” said Mr. Sekarbabu.
DMDK candidate B. Parthasarathy said public health issues along polluted waterways and canals had been reported by electors during the election campaign in the constituency. “Drug addiction among youth has been a major concern among parents,” he said.
BJP Candidate Vinoj P. Selvam said residents had demanded that the Centre focus on improving funding for the local body to construct better playgrounds and gyms to address the drug abuse problem. “The Chennai Central constituency shows signs of being stagnant, devoid of real growth and development. We need better civic infrastructure such as walking tracks, ecoparks, and navodaya schools for students,” he said.
NTK candidate R. Karthikeyan said people had flagged the issue of inadequate water supply during the election campaign. “We have promised them that we will adopt suitable technologies to recharge groundwater over relying too much on desalination plants. We will try to implement projects adopting affordable technology for ecorestoration of waterways,” he said.
“Traffic congestion is another problem. We will create multi-level parking lots at congested locations,” he said, adding: “We should focus on sensitising 40% of voters who are unwilling to vote because of urban apathy.”
