Some political watchers say the biggest gamble the BJP has taken this election is its decision to field Tamilisai Soundararajan, formerly the Governor of Telengana and Lieutenant-Governor of Puducherry, from Chennai South Parliamentary constituency.
The party will be betting big on Ms. Tamilisai, as Chennai South has the biggest population of Brahmins in a Lok Sabha seat in the State, as Mylapore, T. Nagar, and Velachery command a sizable portion of the community vote. Incidentally, the constituency is also home to the ‘IT crowd’, as it encompasses the areas that have grown phenomenally in the last decade as part of the information technology (IT) corridor.
It is expected that both the DMK and AIADMK would retain their voting percentage, while the BJP will be banking on the community to come out and vote en masse for its candidate instead of merely being strident supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media platforms.
For Ms. Tamilisai, credited with popularising the BJP across the State during her stint as party president for nearly five and a half years, this segment’s voter turnout may be crucial to even dream of a victory.
Ms. Tamilisai said she would focus on improving civic amenities such as waste disposal and sewage treatment mechanisms and improving the livelihood of urban poor, especially women. “My ultimate focus will be on empowering women. I have planned to train students, particularly girls, who want to pursue their career in politics,” she said, She added that she would release her plan for Chennai South in a couple of days.
Ms. Tamilisai is pitted against Thamizhachi Thangapandian, who quit academics to join the DMK over a decade ago, after being promised a career in politics by the party patriarch M. Karunanidhi. She is also the sister of State Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, and the incumbent MP from the constituency. Despite the trashing the DMK and its representative received for their response in reaching out to flood-affected people in some parts of the constituency in December 2023, it will go all out to get Ms. Thangapandian re-elected. She is articulate, deeply Dravidian, and friendly with the people. But personality may not be enough for her to win again.
The DMK’s ‘Dravidian Model’ of governance over the past three years will be put to the test here.
Gaps in amenities
While the floods were relatively handled better in T. Nagar and Mylapore, Velachery and Sholinganallur residents were hit hard. Also, some areas in the IT hub and its associated residential areas are just now beginning to get basic amenities such as drinking water and sewerage networks. There has been no long-term vision as the infrastructure is still being put together in pieces, inconveniencing people. If the Makkal Neeedhi Maiam voters still believe in the politics of Kamal Haasan, who is campaigning for the DMK alliance after being promised a Rajya Sabha seat, it will add to her strength.
“The Chief Minister has stitched together a formidable alliance. The Congress, Communist parties, and the VCK partymen have been campaigning with us for nearly a fortnight now,” Ms. Thangapandian said. “In the recent rain, Velachery was worst affected, but the floods drained within a week because of the efforts of our [DMK] government. People know who was with them,” Ms. Thangapandian added.
Meanwhile, the AIADMK has fielded J. Jayavardhan, son of the party’s spokesperson D. Jayakumar, who has wielded considerable influence in the city for decades, but majorly in the northern parts. Mr. Jayavardhan had won the seat in 2014, when his party won 37 Lok Sabha seats out of the 39 in the State.
As the AIADMK, under its new general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, is looking to assert its dominance in Tami Nadu’s politics, the Opposition party may have to go the extra mile to win here. It will be banking mainly on the anti-incumbency vote as its political allies in this election won’t be able to bring in votes.
The DMK had felt the anti-incumbency wave immediately after coming back to power in 2021 in the elections to the Greater Chennai Corporation Council, when more AIADMK members were elected in Sholinganallur area, the IT hub.
Both the Dravidian parties will be banking on another large voter base, the thousands of families from the city’s slums that were resettled in the constituency. As of now, they are a disenchanted lot and feel cheated, being denied the facilities they were promised when they were resettled from the core city areas.
During his campaign, Mr. Jayavardhan said he had raised the need for projects such as the restoration of Pallikaranai marshland, Metro Rail, and other projects in the Parliament, met the Union Ministers concerned and obtained funding in thousands of crores between 2014 and 2019, but claimed that his opponent, the DMK MP had not followed up or represented the constituency adequately.
As the AIADMK no longer has a charismatic leader who can garner the votes of women, the party’s organisational structure and skill will be put to the test here. Interestingly, whenever there was a three-way fight between the DMK, AIADMK and the BJP for the Chennai South Lok Sabha seat, it was the AIADMK that won thrice – 1991, 2009, and 2014.
