TIRUVARUR: His backers say he is a representative of today’s young generation, one who is active on social media and other fora.
His rivals point to the same social media, where he has shared articles ranging from Elon Musk-run SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and Nasa study on earth’s axial wobble to a click-bait article about a man who proposed to his girlfriend 365 times.
But the trouble is T R B Rajaa, the 39-year-old son of senior DMK leader T R Baalu, is contesting from the agrarian Mannargudi constituency, where the issues still range from water, irrigation, minimum support price and roads.
Though his father is a native of Thalikkottai near Mannargudi, Rajaa, born and brought up in Chennai, is considered an outsider even by a section of DMK cadre in Mannargudi ever since he was parachuted to the constituency for the 2011 elections. The fight was tough and the margin was low, but he still managed to emerge a winner then.
According to local public, the credit should go to the groundwork laid by his father Baalu, who brought in development to the region towards the end of his tenure while he was a minister at the Centre, and then as the chairman of the house committee on railways — during this time, he managed to get sanctioned a new route and many trains to Mannargudi. The side story is, Baalu contested from Thanjavur Lok Sabha during the general election, but failed to win.
Soon after winning, Rajaa, an MSc Psychology graduate from the University of Madras, opened an MLA office at Pookollai and appointed staff to receive petitions from the public. He used to meet people of his constituency often during the first three years, which changed after Baalu’s defeat in 2014 — Thanjavur Lok Sabha constituency encompasses Mannargudi assembly segment. After that the visits reduced, said locals.
The campaign by anti-Coal-Bed Methane (CBM) movement, which had Mannargudi as a fulcrum, would also have an impact on Rajaa’s prospects as DMK was in power when the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the State government and Great Eastern Energy Corporation Limited (GEECL) for CBM exploration in the delta districts.
Though the issue was not there in 2011 elections, it got traction during the Lok Sabha polls and was one of the causes for Baalu’s defeat from Thanjavur constituency.
“Though the State government banned the project and the Centre said the ‘permission to GEECL withdrawn, due to technical reasons’, the earmarking of Mannargudi block for CBM still stands,” says V Sethuraman, an LIC employee from Mannargudi. The earmarking of block for CBM should completely be withdrawn since some other company might be allotted the work, he said, adding that the new government should put pressure on the Centre to exclude Mannargudi block from any future drilling operation. He also wanted those contesting from Mannargudi to come out openly against the shale gas exploration, which also looms ominously over delta region.
At the end of the five-year stint, there are other sore points, including lack of progress in setting up infrastructure work like underground drainage and ring road among others. His supporters argue that being an opposition MLA, it is quite difficult for Rajaa to even spend his MLA Local Area Development funds.
This time, Rajaa faces a formidable challenge from S Kamaraj, the AIADMK candidate who has considerable clout in the constituency. The dissidence within the party due to the perception that Rajaa is an outsider might also work against him.
The candidate from PWA-DMDK-TMC front would also pose a challenge as CPI, which has won from here six times, has considerable base in the constituency. The Congress and DMK have won three times each and AIADMK candidates were elected in two elections.
But Rajaa is confident. “The DMK manifesto is delta-centric with the promise of loan waiver for farmers. We will highlight this and the education loan waiver.” He added that only during DMK regimes projects like Paamani fertilizer factory and Government Arts college were brought to Mannarugudi constituency.
S Selvakumar who runs a printing press in Mannarugudi says, “There is an urgent need for industries based on agriculture produce like paddy straw.” As an opposition MLA, Rajaa could not do much to the constituency, he added.