Mohammed Shahabudin, a minority community voter in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar Assembly constituency in North Chennai, affirmed that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) candidate will romp home in the upcoming Assembly elections.
But one Abdul Ghaffar, whom I came across at Decastor Road in Pulianthope, said he voted for the DMK in 2021. This time he won't vote for that party. Because the DMK has failed to fulfil its promises, he claimed.
If politics is a game of chess, the DMK has made a sensible move by replacing the sitting MLA P Sivakumar, with KS Ravichandran, a lawyer by profession, in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar this time. Because the people here are very unhappy with the incumbent. The ruling party's arch-rival, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) responded astutely by fielding Porkodi, wife of slain Tamil Nadu unit president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), K Armstrong, against Ravichandran.
Porkodi, who has a little daughter, will contest under the AIADMK's Two Leaves symbol. The constituents of the AIADMK include the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Dalit activists, including filmmaker Pa. Ranjith, have extended their support to Porkodi, who has been fighting for her demands to be met since her husband's death.
Porkodi launched the Tamil Maanila Bahujan Samaj Party (TMBSP) on the first death anniversary of her husband, on July 5, 2025, following differences with BSP state president P Anandan.
Armstrong was hacked to death by a gang of assailants outside his residence in Perambur on July 5, 2024.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the murder was in retaliation for the killing of a gangster, Arcot Suresh.
But noted writer and activist Shalin Maria Lawrence calls it a "political murder".
She accused the DMK government of not only turning its back on Porkodi but also opposing the latter's pleas to bury the mortal remains of her slain husband at his office and going to court against her demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into her husband's death.
The DMK government had denied permission for the burial of Armstrong's remains at his office, citing its status as a residential property, although the practice is allowed in some cases within the city, Shalin said. On this issue, the government opposed Porkodi's plea in court, and as a result, Armstrong was finally buried on July 8 on land owned by his family in Tiruvallur.
The state government also vehemently opposed the plea of opposition parties, including of BSP leader Mayawati and the BJP, for a CBI probe, Shalin said, adding that three of the accused were killed in a police encounter, which, she added, is an attempt to bury the truth.
Although Chief Minister MK Stalin visited Porkodi at her house, the state government failed to stand firmly with her, Shalin said.
"First of all, Armstrong was eligible for police protection. He was the head of the state unit of a national party; he belonged to a religious minority and was involved in helping people embrace Buddhism, which was very Ambedkarite. It was the negligence of the police that led to his assassination just 100 metres away from the local police station," Shalin noted.
It was in 2006 that Armstrong was elected as a councillor from a ward in North Chennai in the Chennai Municipal Corporation elections. Subsequently, he joined the BSP and, in 2007, was made the state unit president. In 2011, Armstrong contested unsuccessfully against then Deputy Chief Minister MK Stalin in the Assembly elections from Kolathur.
At the Thiru Vi Ka Nagar party office on Tuesday, S Robert, state deputy secretary of TMBSP, flanked by state president Michael Das and media coordinator K. Jagadeesan, told The New Indian Express that "Anni" (sister-in-law) will win by a huge margin.
At Pulianthope, which falls within the constituency, a young woman named Pavithra told this website that there is no drinking water connection in her area. Hence, she has to fetch water from a place a few streets away. "There are six members in my family. We need 30 pots of water a day. My sister-in-law had a miscarriage because of the arduous work of fetching water," she said.
"There is no strong opposition to the DMK," opined one S Anand.
P Ravi, a CPI(M) functionary, said the DMK sitting MLA did not visit the constituency after winning the seat.
"Zero development" under the DMK government, noted one D C Krishnamoorthy, a resident of Narasimha Nagar. "All my friends have planned to vote for actor Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)," he said.
MR Pallavi is the TVK candidate for the constituency. The Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) has fielded Jagadish Chandar.
The AIADMK's V Neelakandan won the constituency in 2011 by defeating C Natesan of the Indian National Congress (INC) by a margin of 29,341 votes. The DMK's P Sivakumar had wrested the seat from Neelakandan in 2016 and retained it in 2021.