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Thursday, Apr 27, 2006

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National

The battle for Chennai

The city has traditionally been a DMK stronghold, but the AIADMK has been making inroads of late, says V. Jayanth

Photo: R. Ragu

DMK supporters at a rally in Chennai.

With May 8 drawing near, leaders of major political parties are returning to the State capital to wind up their campaigns. With 14 seats at stake in Chennai, and another half-a-dozen in its periphery, it makes sense for the party leaders to focus their attention here.

Ever since 1967, when the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam emerged as a major player and stormed to power in Tamil Nadu, Chennai has been its stronghold. But it may no longer be an impregnable fortress, with the ruling All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam making inroads.

In the 2001 elections, the development of infrastructure in the city was the major issue, and the AIADMK went to town with allegations of corruption and irregularities in the construction of a dozen flyovers in Chennai. But it did not have much impact. Even the cases registered by the Government have not made much headway, except for the preliminary finding that the specifications were not followed in the use of iron/steel bars and the like.

DMK sweep

Again, in the 2004 elections to the Lok Sabha, the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) focused on the "anti-people" reforms initiated by the AIADMK regime and the "woefully inadequate water supply" to the residents, following years of successive drought. The DPA swept not only Chennai, but the entire State, giving the alliance all 39 seats at stake.

Now, there may be no major issues, no wave sweeping the State. But the prestige attached to winning seats in the State's capital remains.

The tsunami of December 2004 and the floods in 2005 may play a role in how people vote. While the permanent housing project for the victims of the tsunami has been plagued by problems, flood relief measures by and large, appear to have satisfied the public. Only the stampede deaths in Vyasarpadi and Jafferkhanpet remain a black mark.

The two seats that have been inclined to go the AIADMK way are Royapuram and Radhakrishnan Nagar, where two of the ruling party's strongmen, Law and IT Minister D. Jayakumar and Sekharbabu are in the fray. In the by-election to the Saidapet constituency, AIADMK's actor-turned politician Radha Ravi, came up trumps.

The DMK holds eight of the 14 seats in Chennai, while the Congress and the CPI(M) bagged a seat each in alliance with the AIADMK, and the BJP bagged Mylapore.

In the past, the DMK has won each of the 14 seats between five and eight times, while the AIADMK's record is a maximum of three times. The Congress, in alliance with one of the Dravidian parties, has also managed to win some of these seats, with T. Nagar, Mylapore, Triplicane and Park Town figuring among them.

Chennai's importance to the DMK stems from the fact that three of its top leaders — president M. Karunanidhi, general secretary K. Anbazhagan and deputy general secretary M.K. Stalin — are in the fray here.

Mr. Karunanidhi has won twice each from Saidapet, Harbour and Chepauk; Mr. Anbazhagan was elected from Purasawalkam and Harbour. Mr. Stalin romped home from Thousand Lights thrice, losing twice to the former AIADMK Minister, K.A. Krishnaswamy.

In this election, the DMK has given Saidapet to the Pattali Makkal Katchi, the Perambur constituency to the CPI(M) and Radhakrishnan Nagar to the Congress, keeping the rest to itself. The AIADMK has been more generous to its allies, giving four seats to the MDMK and one to a Muslim League group. The BJP is testing the waters on its own, in alliance with the Janata Party, with veteran H.V. Hande, an MLA who represented both the Swatantra and the AIADMK in the past, returning to the fray in Annanagar and Janata Party's State president Chandralekha trying her luck in Mylapore.

Campaign by film stars

A host of film stars are busy campaigning in Chennai. If the winsome threesome — Simran, Vindhya and Kovai Sarala — are rooting for the ruling party, the DMK has its celebrities too, including Mylapore candidate Napoleon, actor-director Bhagyaraj, Vijaya T. Rajendher and a others. The BJP too got its television star Smriti Irani to campaign here.

Though the DMK is confident of retaining its bastion, its leaders are not taking any chances. Mr. Karunanidhi has spent a fair bit of time in his Chepauk constituency, and DMK leaders will wind up their campaigns here. Ms. Jayalalithaa has also kept Chennai for the last leg of her electioneering.

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