COIMBATORE: It is going to be a daunting task of swimming against the tide for 48-year-old agriculturist Karthikeya Sivasenapathy, who is taking on AIADMK strongman and Minister SP Velumani (51) from the constituency. Sivasenapathy is the managing trustee of Senaapathy Kangayam Cattle Research foundation – a non-profit organisation working for conservation of native cattle breeds.
He is contesting on a DMK ticket against the Municipal Administration and Rural Development Minister. Velumani too has agriculture as his primary occupation. While the minister is a familiar face in the constituency for many years, Sivasenapathy is from Kangayam in Tirupur and is required to go the extra mile in the fight against Velumani. It is one of the key and most-watched contests of this elections.
A powerful minister from the region holding crucial portfolios including Municipal Administration and Special Programmes Implementation, Velumani is familiar in the constituency as he addressed people's grievances soon after they approached him with a petition. Even during Covid-19 lockdown, he extended a helping hand by offering rice and grocery items, winning their hearts.
Taking a cue, DMK functionaries in Thondamuthur too have started attending functions of party cadre, especially in Dalit-populated areas, in order to lure their votes in Selvapuram and villages in the surroundings of Thondamuthur. On the other hand, Karthikeya Sivasenapathy became popular after he led the protest in Chennai in support of Jallikattu and demanding the Union government to lift the ban on the sport in the State. He has created awareness on the variety of bulls also.
He joined the DMK in November 2020 and was made secretary of the party’s newly-created environment wing. Within five months, he has been given a ticket. The last time DMK contested in this constituency directly was in 2001, when VR Sukanya lost to Tamil Manila Congress (Mooppanar) candidate SR Balasubramoniyan by a margin of 28,536 votes. After that the 'Rising Sun' party had allotted the constituency to its alliance parties. Now, after a gap of 20 years, the DMK has fielded its own candidate in Thondamuthur.
Out of 3.20 lakh votes in the the constituency, over 75,000 people are involved in farming and live in rural areas and the remaining 2,30,000 reside in Kuniyamuthur, Karumbukkadai, Kovaipudur, RS Puram, and Selvapuram. The constituency has a unique character of accommodating urban, semi-urban as well as rural population. Its residents come from different ethnic and religious backgrounds. SP Velumani won the seat in the last two elections by huge margins (difference of 64,041 votes in 2016 and 53,203 votes in 2011) and it is said that the minorities extending their support to the AIADMK played a key role in it.
However, DMK leaders feel that this time votes of minorities, especially from Karumbukkadai and Kuniyamuthur and Selvapuram areas, will not back the AIADMK, since the party had allied with BJP. It will benefit Karthikeya Sivasenapathy, they hoped.
Issues facing segment
A woman at Thennampalayam said in the last five years, bitumen road has been laid and drinking water issues resolved. She demanded construction of a bridge near Chithirai Chavadi. Traffic congestion in Selvapuram and Kuniyamuthur remains unaddressed even though a road in RS Puram was developed as a model road.
Farmers in Devarayapuram and Narasipuram are disappointed about the persisting problem of wild animal intrusion, particularly elephant, wild boar and peacock, damaging crops. Tamil Nadu Farmers Association general secretary P Kandhasamy said, "Apart from heavy damages to the crops, wild elephants coming out of the forest areas also trample people to death.
This has been the situation for the last 15 years, and no solution has been found to stop it." “As vegetables are quickly perishable, farmers should start making value added products to improve their livelihood. Storage facilities and processing industries should be set up in the constituency in consultation with farmers,” he opined.