CHENNAI: Tiruvottiyur Assembly seat in North Chennai has been lying vacant ever since the demise of former Fisheries Minister KPP Samy in 2020. Dominated by fishermen, the electorate here has a history of removing incumbents every time. This time a neck and neck contest is expected between DMK and AIADMK.
DMK has fielded KP Sankar, younger brother of KPP Samy, against AIADMK veteran K Kuppan, who has won both times he contested here. As fishermen constitute majority of the population, both candidates have been chosen from fishing hamlets.
The issues too revolve around welfare of the community.During the candidate selection interview, Sankar paraded at least 6,000 cadre from Thiruvottiyur to Anna Arivalayam, the party headquarters. Add to it, about 150 functionaries from Naam Tamilar Katchi in Thiruvottiyur, where party leader Seeman is also contesting, defected to DMK.
"They joined our party just after DMK candidate announcement. They were not happy about their leader contesting from this constituency as it has been a stronghold of the Dravidian majors," said a DMK functionary.
However, this show of strength will hardly unnerve AIADMK, as the party has always given a tough fight even when it lost. In contrast, the winning margin for DMK has mostly been slim. AIADMK and DMK have faced each other head-on six times and are tied at three wins each.
"Kuppan is popular locally. Both times he contested from here, the victory margin was around 27,000 votes, which shows his popularity. Also, the opposition candidate is at a disadvantage as he had many criminal charges against him," said an AIADMK functionary.
Ultimately, it is the issues of people which will decide who will have the last laugh. On visiting the constituency, The New Indian Express found out that pollution and health hazards are the main issues. Residents of Kattukuppam fishing hamlet in Ennore said discharge of oily effluents into Kosasthaiyar river had affected them severely.
Untying his fishing nets sitting on the banks of Kosasthaiyar, Ramesh Thangaraj said the issue of discharge of effluent had not been resolved yet. "We get down in the water to catch polychaete worms and most of us have skin rashes and lesions," he points out, adding that they were facing a loss of livelihood due to lack of fish in the backwaters.
A member of fishermen association of Kattukuppam, Ramesh said unregulated fly-ash deposits from Ennore Thermal Power Station had destroyed villages, and alleged that the power station released coolant water into the river killing the fish.
Apart from these, livelihood issues too are expected to dominate the political rhetoric as the area mostly has people from the working class and most of them suffered due to pandemic and the recent hike in price of gas.