Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

`Field workers' in a close fight

Staff Reporter

R.K. Nagar voters have mostly elected candidates belonging to the winning combine

CHENNAI: Barring the 1980 elections, voters of the Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency in Chennai district have always elected candidates belonging to the winning combine.

The upcoming Assembly election in the constituency promises to be a fight to the finish between the sitting MLA P.K. Sekar Babu of the AIADMK and `Royapuram' R. Mano of the Congress. Both candidates are familiar with the local issues and carry the tag of being `field workers' who interact easily with the public.

Mr. Sekar Babu hopes the work he had carried out in the constituency, especially for the economically backward sections, in the last five years would hold him in good stead. That, he says, includes the 432-apartment slum tenement complex in Bharati Nagar, the provision of sewer connection at Rs.100 for below the poverty line families, transformation of high tension power lines into underground power cable network, provision of 80 new classrooms for Corporation schools and upgradation of the local peripheral hospital.

He agrees that some important agenda for the constituency was still pending but not because of the State government.

He says the AIADMK government had allocated funds for a subway at the Meenambal Nagar-Cochrane Basin Road railway level crossing, another subway near Korrukupet junction and a connecting bridge between Ezhil Nagar and Nehru Nagar. He blames the Railway Board for not processing the projects.

Congress candidate

Mr. Mano accords top priority to easing up the traffic in the region. He says he will press for the immediate implementation of the pending subways and bridges. He squarely blames the state government and the Chennai Corporation for neglecting the construction of flyovers and subways in the last five years. Another demand that he promises to look into is the need for post offices and branches of national banks in the region.

The Congress candidate, who holds masters degrees in Technology and Business Administration, says no major scheme has been implemented in the region in the last five years. "The region remains one of the most backward regions in the city and demands special attention. Just regular maintenance works such as laying roads and building parks won't help the people here. We will make efforts to revive the economy of the region as that is what will ultimately contribute to the welfare of the people." Since 1977, no MLA has been able to retain the R.K. Nagar constituency.

The contest between Mr. Sekar Babu and Mr. Mano is considered to be one of the closest contests in the city. The sitting AIADMK MLA has been in constant touch with his voters but Mr. Mano will be no pushover as he has been involved in local politics in North Chennai for several years now.

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