TIRUCHY : With renowned candidates being fielded by major parties, Tiruchy constituency is likely to have a tough triangular fight in Lok Sabha elections. Industrial development is one of the common assurances by major party candidates to eradicate the prevailing unemployment. From bringing in a massive textile park to expansion of Tiruchy airport to attract multinational companies to the city, assurances are aplenty. Tiruchy East, Tiruchy West, Thiruverambur, Srirangam, Pudukkottai and Kandarvakottai are the six Assembly segments in Tiruchy Lok Sabha constituency.
With strong candidates, including S Thirunavukarasar of Congress under DMK alliance, V Elangovan of DMDK under AIADMK combine, Sarubala R Thondaiman of AMMK and 21 other candidates are competing in this consistency, there is likely be a tough fight among three major candidates.
Winning almost six times consecutively from Aranthangi Assembly segment in Pudukkottai district and elected as MP of erstwhile Pudukkottai Lok Sabha seat, Thirunavukarasar was also a Union minister and has the history of leading Tamil Nadu Congress Committee until a few months ago. He is likely to get a fair number of votes in two Assembly segments - Pudukkottai and Gandarvakkottai. But, in the remaining four Assembly segments coming under Tiruchy district, the veteran candidate is left to rely on the alliance parties, particularly DMK’s support to be victorious. Congress, by contesting alone, had polled just 51,500 votes in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014.
As for the AIADMK alliance, though winning in the past two consecutive times in the Lok Sabha seat, the ruling party has given the seat to its partner DMDK, which has fielded Elangovan, a resident of Dharmapuri and relatively a new face to Tiruchy. However, the support of two-time MP P Kumar, ministers C Vijayabaskar, Vellamandi N Natarajan and S Valarmathi are a great help for him.Moreover, former chief minister J Jayalalitha was elected from Srirangam in 2011 and did a lot for Tiruchy’s development. Contesting for the third consecutive time in the Lok Sabha constituency, a former Mayor of Tiruchy, Sarubala R Thondaiman of AMMK is also working hard. She belongs to the Pudukkottai royal family.
It is important to note that in 2009 elections she as the Congress candidate lost to AIADMK’s P Kumar by merely 4,000 votes. This marked her popularity in the constituency. She could garner sizable votes from Pudukkottai district and also from Tiruchy city. It is likely that Sarubala will be giving a tight competition for other candidates in the polls.
Speaking about the developments needed in Tiruchy, KC Neelamegam, a social activist said, “While most of the political parties are assuring industrial growth in the district, it is to be noted that most of small-scale industries in the district were completely shut down due to the impact of GST (as raw materials price exceeded the manufacturing cost). Thus, changes in GST can be a possible way to develop the small industries in the district.” Similarly he added that being right in the middle of the State, the elected candidate should take action in increasing train services to and from Tiruchy.
He also urged that the action should be taken for solving the pending projects, including integrated bus terminal and a railway over bridge near railway junction that was stalled due to difficulty in acquiring defence land. MP Chinnadurai, a farmer and environmental activist from Tiruchy, said, “While most of the candidates are placing industrial development as major assurance, importance should also be given to improving agriculture here.” He added the elected candidate must gather data from 1977, 1999 and 2005 floods in Cauvery river to make a better plan for preventing wastage of water.
The floods devastated crops and also all water was wasted as there was minimal facility for storage. Check dams across Kollidam and Cauvery for storing more water for irrigation usage are required. People are also demanding establishment of more agri-based industries in Tiruchy.Revival of BHEL ancillary units is also the people’s expectation as the units were providing jobs to thousands.