COIMBATORE: Caste could be the decisive factor and community affinity would play a crucial role in the Thondamuthur by-elections where the DMK-Congress combine, Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam (KMK), BJP, CPM and DMDK are in the fray besides 17 other candidates.
The main fight is expected to be between M N Kandasamy (Congress), E R Eswaran (KMK) and Thangavelu (DMDK) - all belonging to the Kongu Vellala Gounder community. In addition, AIADMK’s decision to boycott the bypoll has come as a boon for the KMK to cash in on voters’ sentiments.
Eswaran, who is also the KMK general secretary, has started a door-to-door campaign. Kannada-speaking Okkaliga Gowders are predominant in the Thondamuthur Assembly constituency followed by Kongu Vellala Gounders and Dalits.
Divergent views have cropped up regarding support to candidates. Some view that it is important to vote for the candidate from their community. However, a small segment of voters told Express that they would assess the candidate’s popularity. Some voters pointed a finger against M Kannappan, who as MDMK MLA failed to usher in development for the constituency. Though Congress candidate M N Kandasamy, a native of Madampatty enjoys a good reputation among voters, the infighting in the party could make the going tough for him since neither the Vasan faction nor the Prabhu group are expected to actively participate in the poll campaign as Kandasamy is a staunch supporter of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram.
Dalits working in farms of Kongu Vellala Gounders used to favour CPM. But the last Assembly elections indicated that they had switched their loyalty to the DMDK. CPM candidate Perumal, general secretary of CITU engineering workers, who is also the state executive committee member of the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Prevention Front, is in the fray. BJP candidate M Chinnarasu, a Okkaliga Gowder, has a fair chance of garnering his community votes while DMDK’s candidate Thangavelu from Kongu Vellala Gounder community is a known figure. Going by the trend, there could be a three-way split in votes of the Kongu Vellala Gounder community.