THOOTHUKUDI: With the Congress and BJP yet to release the list of candidates, ticket aspirants and cadres are watching from the sidelines even as candidates of the AIADMK, Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) and Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) are busy undertaking door-to-door campaigns canvassing for votes.
In Thoothukudi, Srivaikuntam is the only constituency allotted to the grand old party in the Secular Progressive Alliance, out of the six assembly segments in the district. Congress sources said a total of 28 candidates filed applications. The sitting MLA Urvasi Amirtharaj and former Congress south district president P Jeyakumar are among those likely to get the ticket.
AIADMK candidate SP Shanmuganathan, NTK’s Shanmugasundaram and TVK’s Saravanan have filed their nomination papers and are active in the field.
A senior Congress leader told TNIE that Srivaikuntam will not be a cake walk for the party this time due to growing support for NTK and TVK. “We have to work very intensively to attract the voters, and the delay in announcing candidates would spoil our chances,” he said. Srivaikuntam, which is located along the Thamirabarani river, took a severe beating during the December 2023 floods. The damage has been fixed since then, new drinking water schemes were implemented, water bodies were restored. “We need to promote these projects among the voters, as opponents are faulting the DMK government along with Congress, in their campaigns,” said a Congress cadre.
Ready with preparations
In Kanniyakumari, out of the 6 constituencies, BJP has is contesting in four – Nagercoil, Colachel, Padmanabhapuram and Vilavancode – and the Congress is contesting in 3 constituencies – Colachel, Vilavancode and Killiyoor .
During his campaign at Aralvaimozhi on Sunday, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami introduced NDA contestants except BJP candidates. Further, AIADMK candidate N Thalavai Sundaram and Killiyoor TMC candidate J Nivin Simon are actively campaigning in their constituencies. Similarly, in Nagercoil and Kanniyakumari DMK candidates S Austin and R Mahesh have started their election work and have met with religious leaders and party cadres. Besides, CPM’s Padmanabhapuram candidate R Chella Swamy has also started his campaign. CM MK Stalin is expected to campaign in Nagercoil on Saturday. A senior Congress functionary said there was a democratic process in selecting the candidates and it was the reason for delay in releasing the list. Congress Kanniyakumari west district president Dr Binulal Singh said they have completed preparatory works and less than a week would be enough for them to cover the constituencies once candidates announced.
BJP west district cooperative unit president C Mohana Kumar said they started booth level work a year back and would cadres would work effectively once the candidates are announced.
(With inputs from M Abdul Rabi @ Kanniyakumari)