CHENNAI: Exactly a month from today, on April 17, notifications will be issued for elections in the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu. Voters, however, may find themselves clubbed to different electorates and the names of their constituencies changed as they go to the polling booth on May 13.
The process of delimitation has changed the contours of every constituency on the map without any change to the total number of constituencies. Some of them have been given new names that are associated with political leaders, temples and other things specific to the area.
One such new constituency, with most of its electorate hithero in Chengalpattu, is Kancheepuram. The name evokes different images for different people. It is known for its temples, the Sankara mutt and as the birth place of DMK founder C N Annadurai. In fact, the 'C' in his name stands for Canjeevaran, a different spelling for the town. Above all, it brings to mind the shimmering, zari bordered silk drape with the eponymous name.
Speaking of saree, another new constituency that has come into the pollscape is Arani. The saree woven in the town of Arani is known by that name, though it is not as expensive as the ones that roll out of Kancheepuram looms. Most of the Assembly segments that form Arani constituency were earlier in the Vandavasi constituency.
Dindigul, a name associated with locks, is another constituency, which has come in the place of Palani, known for the famous Murugam temple situated atop a hill. Another famous hilltop temple is in Tiruvanamalai and that name has also been given to a new constituency, whose electorate were earlier mostly with the Tirupattur constituency.
Another famous temple city that has come into the list is Kanyakumari, though it is difficult to say whether it has come in the place of Nagercoil, a small town named after a temple, or Tiruchendur, which is also well-known for a temple. But Kanyakumari is of course a place known all over the country — remember the cliched phrase 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari'?
Namakkal, another place of great economic importance, known for its lorry building units, bore-well drilling companies and poultry is a new constituency. The large bulk of its electorate were formerly with Tiruchengode.
Yet another new constituency name associated with a top leader is Erode, the place of Periyar E V Ramasamy. Earlier, it was Gobichettipalayam, now represented by E V K S Elangovan.
With delimitation though, some famous names have also been lost. One is Sivakasi, the place known for its printing units, fire cracker and match factories and of course, notorious for child labour.
It has morphed into Virudhunagar, which incidentally is the birth place of K Kamaraj.