Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Malaravan springs a surprise

K.V. Prasad

Door-to-door campaign, close interaction with voters pay off

COIMBATORE: If the gains for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in Coimbatore are a surprise, the win for its candidate and former Mayor T. Malaravan in Coimbatore West is even more surprising.

Not given even an outside chance, Mr. Malaravan proved predictions wrong and the campaign of his detractors ineffective by springing the biggest surprise yet. While his predecessor in the Corporation Council and former Mayor V. Gopalakrishnan (AIADMK) lost to former Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Minister Pongalur N. Palanisamy in Coimbatore East, Mr. Malaravan defeated the Congress' sitting MLA, S. Maheswari, by 14,281 votes.

Mr. Malaravan polled 49 per cent of the total 1,00,669 votes against Ms. Maheshwari's 35 per cent.

Percentage

What makes Mr. Malaravan's victory almost unbelievable is the vote percentage despite the oft-mentioned resentment over his mayorship from 2001. The Opposition in the Coimbatore Corporation Council had teamed up against him for a door-to-door campaign on the lapses during his tenure. A number of civic issues remain unsolved and these did confront him during the campaign. None of them seems to have made a dent on his prospects as the Opposition's politicising of developmental schemes was assailed by him.

Besides, Mr. Malaravan had benefited from the fact that almost all of the 533 unapproved layouts did not fall under the Coimbatore West constituency. He had always pointed out that only the DMK Government (1996-2001) had banned the spending of MP/MLA constituency development funds on amenities in these layouts.

But, his door-to-door campaign is said to have provided the edge. Whether schemes took off or not, Mr. Malaravan could be approached by the public and he was able to strike a chord with the voters who did not have a compelling reason to vote for the DMK-led alliance.

A party member says that for the past few years, the AIADMK has grown strong organisationally in Coimbatore, especially in this constituency. Prior to that the city was a weak point for the party compared to rural areas. The party had been keen on an MLA from the city.

Earlier, city seats were allocated only to the allies. After a long gap, two main city seats (Coimbatore West and Coimbatore East) were allocated to the party members. Mr. Malaravan's victory proves that the party is organisationally strong here.

This victory will prove good for the party in the next Corporation Council elections, says the party member.

Some partymen had said that Mr. Malaravan resigned from Mayorship to contest the Assembly elections with ministerial ambitions as he knew he would not get another tenure as Mayor.

But, a party councillor says that though the AIADMK has lost the elections, Mr. Malaravan's experience as Mayor can be used to raise the problems faced by the city in the Assembly effectively. His knowledge of the problems faced by the Corporation even in terms of release of Government funds and delay in approval of major schemes can also be put to good use.

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