THANJAVUR: The paintings on the walls throughout rural segments of the Mayiladuthurai parliamentary constituency covering parts of Thanjavur and Nagappattinam districts speak volumes for an intense fight raging between the Dravidian majors - DMK and AIADMK - in the Lok Sabha elections just 10 days away.
S Asaimani of the AIADMK, one-time MLA of Kuthalam and currently chairperson of the Kumbakonam Central Cooperative Bank (KCCB), is taking on S Ramalingam of DMK, four-time MLA of Tiruvidaimarudur. Both are farmers.
Out of six Assembly segments in the Mayiladuthurai parliamentary constituency, the AIADMK holds four segments: Papanasam, from where Agriculture Minister R Doraikkannu was elected, Poompuhar, Sirkazhi and Mayiladuthurai. The DMK holds Kumbakonam and Tiruvidaimarudur segments.Apart from a large number of Vanniyars and Dalits, Muslims too are spread in good number from Ayyampettai in Thanjavur district to Needur in Mayiladuthurai and beyond.
The two main contenders each from DMK and AIADMK and the AMMK’s S Senthamizhan belong to the Vanniyar community. Though actor Kamal Haasan’s MNM has fielded M Ribhayudeen with a view to garnering Muslim votes, he might not be successful in this respect, say the locals. The constituency is covering the centre of the Cauvery delta to its tail-end area and the mouth of the river Cauvery, Poompuhar, is situated here. Agriculture is the predominant industry in the constituency and so, the impact of the Cauvery water dispute has cast a long shadow over the region.
Another major issue haunting the farmers here is the hydrocarbon project. The ONGC operation was mired in a controversy at Kathiramangalam where the people had protested for more than 500 days.“The hydrocarbon project, which covers the constituency, poses a major threat to the livelihood of farmers,” says Arupathy P Kalyanam, a farmer leader from Mayiladuthurai.
The other major issue farmers are facing in the Mayiladuthurai constituency has been the non-functioning of two private sugar mills and a cooperative sugar mill. “The two private sugar mills – one functioning in Papanasam and the other in Tiruvidaimarudur segment – have failed to pay even the fixed remunerative price (FRP), let alone the State Advised Price (SAP) for the farmers who have supplied sugarcane to them,” says S Vimalnathan of Swamimalai. He said the two sugar mills, which come under single management, owe farmers `32 crore. Similarly, the NPKRR Cooperative Sugar Mills in the Illanthoppu area of Mayiladuthurai has also stopped crushing since 2016.
T Kasinathan, State secretary of Tamil Nadu Sugarcane Farmers Association, said the mill still owed him around `5 lakh as SAP. The mill, which improved the financial position of the farmers in the area once, should be revived now, said Arupathy Kalyanam.Meanwhile, Kasinathan said DMK candidate S Ramalingam had assured revival of the mill.
The Mayiladuthurai constituency also encompasses areas such as Swamimalai and Natchiarkoil which still have the ancient industries of bronze icon-making and the brass lamp-making. Both bronze icons and the Natchiarkoil brass lamps have got the Geographical Indication.
However, the manufacturers and traders at Natchiarkoil are not a happy lot. The GST has had a negative impact on their business as well. “We used to pay 5% tax under VAT regime. Now it has been raised to 12 % under GST”, said R Babu, vice-president of Brass Products Traders Association of Natchiarkoil.
“Now the brass lamp manufacture depends only on purchases for pooja. Many have discontinued the practice of presenting the ‘kuthuvilakku’ in marriages,” he added.
Flooding of lamps made in Moradabad, where the production cost is less, is also affecting the industry. Ayyappan, a brass lamp worker, said many workers had switched profession after the implementation of the GST.
The impact of GST is also felt by the Swamimalai bronze icon-makers. Srikanda Sthapathy of Swamimalai, one of the renowned icon-makers, said the tax had been increased from 5% to 12% under the GST regime. He said the villagers, who conduct annual festivals and buy images of Mariamman and Kaliyamman, are affected as they could not pay 12% tax. “There has been a fall in the domestic sales of icons,” he added.
The demand for making Mayiladuthurai district headquarters has, of late, become vociferous. Even when Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami was campaigning in Mayiladuthurai, the people voiced their demand that a new district be carved out with Mayiladuthurai as headquarters. He replied he would hold consultations and make an announcement at the end of the meeting.
Similarly, the revival of Mayiladuthurai-Tharangambadi-Karaikkal railway line is one of the long-pending demands. “This would connect the pilgrimage centres of all major religions in the area,” said Arupathy Kalyanam.
Since Ramalingam and Asaimani were known in most of the areas, the fight would be intense as both were approachable, said Durai, a tea stall-owner in the Tiruvidaimarudur constituency. The clout of G Anbalagan, sitting DMK MLA of Kumbakonam, would bolster the prospects of Ramalingam. Similarly as AIADMK having MLAs from four out of six Assembly constituencies would give an edge to its candidate Asaimani.
AIADMK-Will strive for building more barrages
S Asaimani, AIADMK candidate, said he would work for building a barrage across the Kollidam river at Mahendrapalli. He also said similar barrages would be constructed across Uppanaru near Vellapallam and across the Cauvery near Poompuhar. Asaimani said he would work for setting up a fertilizer production unit in the constituency. He would also make efforts to upgrade the Mayiladuthurai government hospital with all facilities of a district headquarters hospital. He also promised doubling of railway lines in the constituency and speeding up of the trains running at present besides increasing the number of trains. He pointed out that to safeguard the settlements of the fisherfolk, boulders would be placed on the shore near their settlements. Aasaimani said he would fight for more allocation of funds for disaster management. No project will be implemented against the wishes of the people, he said.
DMK-Will work for revival of four sugar mills
S Ramalingam, DMK candidate, said he would work for the revival of three sugar mills in the constituency. He further said the cooperative spinning mill at Manalmedu would also be revived. As the constituency has a coast line on the Poompuhar-Sirkazhi stretch, cold storage facilities for the fisherfolk would be created besides efforts to create a marine engineering college in the area. Cold storage for the vegetable market of Kumbakonam located at Darasuram would also be created, he added. Ramalingam said he would work for the re-laying of the Mayiladuthurai-Tarangambadi railway line. He would also give voice for a new railway line between Kumbakonam and Vriddachalam. Promotion of tourism is also in his priority list. Declaring the delta districts as protected agricultural zone and implementation of M S Swaminathan Commission’s recommendation would be raised in Parliament, he added.
