THOOTHUKUDI: In a surprise move, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) general secretary TTV Dhinakaran has decided to contest in the 2021 Assembly polls from the Kovilpatti constituency. The announcement of this decision has enthused AMMK cadre in the region.
Dhinakaran, the sitting MLA from Chennai's RK Nagar constituency, is learnt to have chosen Kovilpatti following the AMMK's success in the local body polls in the region.
The party outperformed the ruling AIADMK in the Kayathar union, under the Kovilpatti segment, in the 2019 local body elections, winning 15 out of 16 union wards. It was Kadambur zamin SVSP Manickaraja, a close associate of Dhinakaran, who was credited for the sweep. Manickaraja, who is also AMMK's South zone organiser, went on to become the Kayathar union chairman and one of the very few AMMK cadre to hold an elected position in the State.
Dhinakaran candidature from Kovilpatti is expected to eat into the AIADMK's votes. The ruling party is fielding the constituency's current MLA and minister Kadambur C Raju in the seat. Raju won in Kovilpatti in the 2016 polls, defeating the DMK's A Subramanian by a slender margin of 428 votes. Raju also won from here in 2011.
Sources close to Dhinakaran said he had initially planned to contest from Theni district, as he had served as MP from there earlier.
"But besides, caste votes (Dhinakaran belongs to the dominant Thevar community), the victory for the AMMK in the local body elections changed his mind. The cadre in the region have already started working for his victory," a party functionary said.
Meanwhile, Raju stated that Dhinakaran's candidacy will not affect the AIADMK's prospects. "We do not care who the candidate is,” he said, adding that the ruling party had implemented its poll promises, including a second drinking water pipeline. “I am happy to contest from here again. The Kovilpatti residents will give me the mandate required to emerge victorious,” he said.
(With inputs from Vinodh Arulappan in Madurai)