The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : A tussle is on between civic body chiefs in Tambaram

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 26, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

A tussle is on between civic body chiefs in Tambaram

K. Manikandan

DMK sees it as a safe bet; MDMK banks on its ties with AIADMK

TAMBARAM : Tambaram, one of the largest Assembly constituencies, next only to Villivakkam, in terms of voter population and geographical extent is the southern gateway to Chennai.

And locking horns in this vast and densely populated constituency are local body chiefs, one who has been the chairman of a bustling municipality for a decade and the other, a panchayat chief of a quiet village.

For S.R. Raja, Tambaram Municipal Chairman and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's candidate, it is his first taste of Assembly elections, while Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's `Palavakkam' K. Somu has contested unsuccessfully in the previous two elections who had managed to retain a sizeable amount of votes.

Other candidates in the fray include V.R. Sivaraman, of the Bharatiya Janata Party, V. Sekar of the Samajwadi Party, M. Akbar of the Tamil Nadu Jananayaga Congress, M. Salim of the Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangangalin Peravai and K. Dharma of Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam.

DMK members see the constituency as a safe bet. In the 1996 elections, three-time MLA, M.A. Vaidyalingam secured nearly 65 per cent of the votes polled, defeating K.B. Madhavan of the Indian National Congress by a margin of more than one lakh votes. And in the previous election, despite the wave in favour of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Mr. Vaidyalingam managed to win with a narrow victory of just 5,431 votes, defeating K. Chakrapani Reddiar of the Tamil Maanila Congress.

Mr. Raja said the alliance factor and the tradition of Tambaram being safe for the DMK would help his party. Listing the welfare schemes executed during his tenure as Chairman of Tambaram Municipality for the past 10 years as his achievements, Mr. Raja said the groundwork has been completed by his party cadre and allies.

Mr. Somu secured 17,350 votes in 1996 and 17,552 in 2001 when MDMK contested alone on both the occasions. He said the party's principal ally — the AIADMK had a strong presence in villages coming under the St. Thomas Mount Panchayat Union, while the Dalit Panthers of India was also very active. And, in addition, the party had its "own voters" intact for the past 10 years. As president of the Palavakkam panchayat, he had taken his village close to self-sufficiency and this would help seek the favour of the voters in the constituency. Mr. Sivaraman, Tambaram Municipal Councillor and BJP district secretary said the party had taken up several public causes not only in Tambaram but at other places of the constituency as well, particularly issues pertaining to distribution of community certificates and pattas.

Since 1991, the voter population of Tambaram has increased nearly three times from 3,73,559 to 8.7 lakh now. And, compared to 2001, there has been an addition of about one lakh new voters. The constituency has a composition of population that is cosmopolitan, urban and rural in character. Three divisions of the Chennai Corporation, Velachery, Taramani and Tiruvanmiyur, apart from four municipalities, nine special village panchayats and 23 village panchayats come under the constituency.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail