DHARMAPURI: No candidate has ever won twice in a row from the Dharmapuri Lok Sabha Constituency. Will PMK youth wing leader and sitting MP Anbumani Ramadoss break the jinx? Anbumani is facing off against the DMK’s DNV Senthil Kumar and former minister P Palaniappan, who is contesting on a AMMK ticket. While Anbumani is well-known in the constituency, having nurtured it over the past five years, it remains to be seen if voters in the region will give him another chance. Caste is a key factor in these parts, even as migration, unemployment and water scarcity plague the district.
The Dharmapuri LS constituency comprises of Dharmapuri, Palacode, Pennagaram, Harur (SC), Pappireddipatty and Mettur Assembly constituencies. The Mettur constituency alone lies in Salem district. Dharmapuri district, one of the most backward in Tamil Nadu, shot to national notoriety in 2013 when members of the Vanniyar community, that makes up 60 per cent of the population here, attacked Dalits and set fire to their belongings in Natham Colony.
The violence broke following the death by suicide of a Vanniyar man whose daughter Divya had married a Dalit youth named Ilavarasan. Ilavarasan was later found dead under mysterious circumstances. The PMK waded into the affair in an already polarised environment and Anbumani was fielded from the constituency for the first time in the 2014 Parliamentary polls that followed. Various Dalit groups campaigned against the PMK, but Anbumani won by a margin of 75,000 votes, securing 42.51 percent of the votes. However, just two years later, when he contested in the 2016 Assembly elections from Pennagaram he was defeated by the DMK’s PNP Inbasekaran, losing by over 18,000 votes.
In this context, it is to Anbumani’s advantage that the DMK has fielded a newcomer in the constituency. Like Anbumani, Senthil Kumar is a doctor, hails from the Vanniyar community and belongs to a political family -- his grandfather DN Vadivelu Gounder was elected Congress MLA in 1965 -- but this is his first election and it will be difficult for him to match Anbumani’s popularity.
As an MP, Anbumani has visited the constituency regularly. He is credited with having constructed bus shelters in many places, provided RO water at bus stands and hospitals. Recently, he laid the foundation stone for the Morappur-Dharmapuri Railway line restoration project, a 75-year-old dream of people here. However, the PMK decision to join hands with the AIADMK, after criticising the ruling party for months, could affect his credibility.
Meanwhile, the region is in crisis. About 80 per cent of farm land here depends on rainfall. With forest cover diminishing, rains failing and little water available, some 30 per cent of population in district have started migrating to other districts and states to work as daily wage labourers. While the district’s performance has improved on several key indicators it still lags in terms of education and anemia plagues the women here.
“There has not been sufficient rainfall here for the past 15 years. Thanks to the Hogenakkal Combined Water scheme, drinking water scarcity has reduced but farmers still struggle for water for agriculture,” local activist Shankar pointed out.
Farmers and general public have long demanded the Thumbalahalli Irrigation project. The late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa promised to implement this project in 2011. The project would link the Ennaikolputhur check dam in Krishnagiri district to the right canal of Thumbalahalli dam at Karimangalam in Dharmapuri district. It would benefit 1.25 lakh acres of farm land, fill 65 tanks and 16 check dams in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts. Another important project, people have demanded, is the diversion excess water from Hogenakkal to 74 lakes and canals in the district. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami recently assured that the Thumbalahalli Irrigation Project would be soon implemented.
Another urgent need is for the establishment of industries in the district. The region was once part of Naxal territority, the Reds having risen to challenge the atrocities of money lenders in the 1980s. While the Naxals have been uprooted from the district, industrialists are still wary. The result is that even educated youth are forced to look elsewhere for work.
The DMK government in 2008 and the AIADMK in 2011 promised to set up a State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) complex here to address the issue. However, the project has stalled over issues related to the acquisition of land.