COIMBATORE: The well-laid roads in Thondamuthur constituency sum it up; they stand testimony to the popularity of AIADMK strongman SP Velumani, who secured a hat-trick, winning the seat in the last three Assembly elections, routing his opponents by large margins.
Why the DMK could not make its mark in the segment after 1996 is evident in the words of K Kannan, an auto driver, who said all the roads in the constituency were laid during Velumani’s tenure.
“He brought in development. During the Covid-19 lockdown, he had even facilitated food for the public on most of the days,” he says.
Echoing the same sentiments, A Kumar, a roadside vendor, from Kovaipudur in the constituency says, “Velumani is easily approachable. For my daughter’s marriage, I handed over the invitation at his office, and he attended the marriage and gave Rs 5,000 each to the bride and the groom. We do not have any grievances concerning basic needs, as Velumani has already fulfilled them.”
For former CM J Jayalalithaa’s birthday, Velumani gave gift hampers consisting of seven items, he recollects.
On the other hand, DMK is trying its best to break the winning streak of AIADMK in the constituency which is a mix of urban and agrarian population, and is dominated by the Gounder community, Muslims and Scheduled Caste. The ruling party has started its poll campaign with wall posters saying ‘We will win, we will only win’.
Even the DMK men are acknowledging the popularity of Velumani, with the party’s Coimbatore North district traders wing vice president A Subramanian, who joined DMK a decade ago after his bitter experience with Velumani, citing an example of the AIADMK veteran’s visit to a DMK man, “Velumani had visited the DMK man’s house one-and-a-half years after his father’s death. At that time, even the family members had overcome the loss. But his visit made them recall good old memories.”
He also claimed in order to break the winning streak of AIADMK, the DMK is likely to field a native candidate, Thondamuthur A Ravi, who is also DMK Coimbatore North district secretary. The people in Thondamuthur do not seem to have major local issues concerning them, except human-animal conflict. “During the AIADMK rule, our demands were easily fulfilled by Velumani. But there was no tall leader like Velumani in DMK.
After 2021, despite raising grievances repeatedly with the district officials, they hardly respond to even small demands such as allowing to take alluvial soil from waterbodies for agricultural purposes, check dam issue, and other grievances related to cooperative societies, revenue, etc,” says S Thangaraj, Perur taluk secretary of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam.
Speaking to TNIE, Thondamuthur A Ravi, who has filed application for contesting on a DMK ticket in the constituency, said, in 2011 and 2016 the seat was allocated to DMK allies. “Though DMK directly entered the fray in 2021, a candidate from outside the constituency contested, and that was the reason for the party’s loss.
Now, the DMK has a strong thrust in the constituency due to schemes implemented by the present government. Over 66,500 women from the constituency are receiving Mahalir Urimai Thogai. Also, there is a strong discontent against Velumani at present, as he did not visit the constituency for the last four years as he was focussed on AIADMK’s internal issues.”
Though both Velumani and Ravi belong to the Gounder community, DMK men expect Ravi would attract over 30,000 votes from Okkaliga Gounder, a sub-class in the Gounder community, to which he belongs.
Despite Velumani’s supremacy in the constituency, in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, DMK managed to secure 98,355 votes in the Thondamuthur Assembly segment and came ahead of AIADMK (57,927 votes) and BJP (56,817 votes).
Though Velumani maintains close relationships with Muslim voters, with AIADMK aligning with BJP, he will be having a big task in convincing them to vote for him and could likely affect his victory. DMK hopes its populist welfare scheme, strong election campaigning, and votes split by TVK will help it cross the victory line, which Velumani is expected to counter.