CHENNAI: For 22 years, Michael Raj has lived for the buzz that the election season brings – seen on his toes in crisp white shirt and black pants – washed and spotless, persuading people to attend party meetings, erecting flagpoles and basking in the general feeling of being ‘important’.
Ever since he, along with several other families, was moved from his turf in Saidapet to Ezhil Nagar in Okkiyam Thoraipakkam in 2016, the pace of work, he says, has never been the same, restricting their work to pasting posters within their respective streets and sometimes, elsewhere within the locality.
Families from across the city were resettled to Kannagi Nagar, Ezhil Nagar, Semmancheri and Perumbakkam, all in the Sholinganallur constituency, taking its voter population to 6.07 lakh in 2018, almost twice the number of voters it had in the 2011 Assembly elections. However, those affiliated to various political parties in these colonies say that they feel detached from the core party activities.
Michael, for instance, holds the post of deputy district organiser, Kalai Ilakkiya Peravai of VCK, Kancheepuram East, and earlier had the opportunity to meet his ‘leader’ Thol Thirumavalavan once every few months.
“We have even interacted many times; he used to stop by at our slum in Saidapet because he would pass by it often,” said Michael. In the three years that he had moved here, he has met his leader twice or thrice.
Some others like Mu Krishnan (65), a sworn DMK man for 40 years now, have given up party activities altogether. “In Saidapet, I used to take up work under the deputy district organisers. Everyone knew me and I knew many senior party functionaries including Ma Subramaniam (former Mayor). Here I get no respect, no recognition,” he said. “I can’t travel to the city like before and take part in election activities. But I’ll still vote for them,” he added.
Po Balaraman, a young VCK member, has raised 60 flagpoles along with other partymen, in Ezhil Nagar and has put up half a dozen banners. “But, who sees all of this work? It would have been different if we had done the same work in the centre of the city,” he said. “We do a lot of work on the field. But, a little visibility always helps.”
Changing allegiances
In the 39 booths that people in Ezhil Nagar and Kannagi Nagar went to polls, for the 2016 elections, the primary battle had been between the two Dravidian majors that ended with DMK finishing close on the heels of the AIADMK that won by 1,307 votes. As far as the entire constituency is concerned, the DMK won by a margin of 14,674 votes.
Voters at the resettlement colonies are estimated to constitute over one lakh of the total voters in the constituency. Many of the 11,000 voters at the Perumbakkam resettlement colony, are to see their first election away from their earlier homes at the heart of the city, this time. Despite the numbers, residents say that they have not been looked at seriously as a potential vote bank.
“We know the problems and we know the solutions. But there is no one coming forward to ensure the most basic facilities,” said Joseph KP of Kannagi Nagar.
Kannagi Nagar first had 9,000 houses to which another 6,556 were added under Tsunami colony. Again in 2013, another 8,048 houses cropped up in Ezhil Nagar. The Metro Water first comes to Kannagi Nagar water tank from where it is pumped to Ezhil Nagar which has a 10 lakh litre storage capacity. From there, in turn, another 5 lakh litres is pumped to Tsunami Colony by which time it takes a solid 22 hours to reach the colony.
“The solution is fairly straightforward. A direct line from the main connection at OMR to Ezhil Nagar would have solved the problem,” said Karuna, a resident and member of AIADMK. However, it has not been done so far.
Residents say construction has not been taken up at Ezhil Nagar in the land allotted for the higher secondary school.
Said 44-year-old Anandhi (name changed), a resident of Perumbakkam, “We had been living peacefully in Chintadripet. It is the AIADMK government that sent us here; we have lost everything.”
While many of the residents at Perumbakkam that Express spoke to, attributed their sufferings to the doings of the AIADMK, some others were disgruntled with the indifference displayed by other parties. “We have been DMK supporters. We begged with them to stop the evictions. Nobody helped us. We will not be voting for either of the two Dravidian parties this time,” said Sarasu D, a resident.