Tamil Nadu   

Staunch loyalties, intense battles

R. Ilangovan

Vijayalakshmi Palanichamy

SALEM: One family from Veerapandi boasts of two Ministers, three MLAs and two Panchayat Union chairmen. But these `birds of the same feather' have never flocked together.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (DMK) strongman and former Minister Veerapandi S. Arumugam is the uncle of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (AIADMK) Social Welfare Minister Vijayalakahmi Palanichamy.

Their rivalry has divided the villagers.The Uncle and the niece have avoided a direct confrontation so far, but elections in the past have witnessed intense battles that put cousins against cousins and uncles against nephews.

Ms. Vijayalakshmi is facing Raja, Mr. Arumugam's son, in Veerapandi. Mr. Arumugam himself has moved to the nearby Salem II. After the DMK chief M. Karunanidhi and his son M.K. Stalin, this is the only other father and son duo in the fray.

The AIADMK denied the ticket this time to the sitting MLA and Vijayalakshmi's another cousin S. K. Selvam who defeated his uncle, Mr. Arumugam, in the 2001 polls in Veerapandi.

The family's hold on `Veerapandi' thus remains intact, irrespective of party affiliations.

Victories and defeats thus occur within this family. Their unruffled loyalties to their respective parties discourage outsiders from contesting in Veerapandi. Outsiders were fielded only twice when family members could not contest for reasons other than politics.

Neither the "cousinly affection"' nor the "strained relationships" interfere with these battles, which have been fought with no holds barred ferocity. The battles of "cousin versus cousin and nephew versus uncle" have always been very intense.

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