It takes courage to contest from a DMK stronghold. The political novice and actor-turned-politician C Joseph Vijay has embarked on that challenging path.
A visit to Perambur constituency on Monday—the day Vijay filed his nomination papers and declared Rs 405 crore of movable assets and Rs 115 crore of immovable assets in his affidavit—threw mixed signals.
Perambur deserves much better nurturing. Some people even struggled to remember sitting MLA RD Shekar's name. Shekar has been representing the constituency since 2019.
The safety of women, or the lack of it, rampant drug menace, spiralling crime rate, livelihood issues, among others, assail the voters of Perambur. There is widespread discontent against the sitting MLA. People who are looking for an alternative have Vijay. But not all who are unhappy with Shekar tend to opt for Vijay. Many women voters are satisfied with the welfare schemes launched for them by Chief Minister MK Stalin.
Senior TVK leader KA Sengottaiyan recently claimed that the DMK government's Rs 5,000 scheme for women "is meant to deceive people and to loot Rs five lakh crore."
"People are preparing to overthrow the DMK and its regime," Sengottaiyan reportedly asserted.
But S Rajeshwari, who runs a small stall selling koozh (porridge made from millet), told this website that the Rs 5,000 assistance (given to 1.31 crore women under the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai scheme—along with a special summer assistance component of Rs 2000—in an effort to overcome attempts to halt the monthly transfers ahead of Assembly elections) credited to her account recently helped her pay the house rent this time. She has four grown-up daughters.
"DMK vandha nalladhu thanae?" (Won't it be good if DMK wins?) quipped another voter Shankar.
When asked about Vijay, pat came the reply: "He's new to politics. Even if you want to become a bus driver, you need training. Vijay lacks experience."
Visalam, a flower dealer, had a different take. "We're happy that Vijay is contesting from Perambur. Namma Vijaykku thaan enga votu," she said, adding that the local DMK councillor Saravanan and the sitting MLA have done nothing for them.
21-year-old Samuel, a Vijay fan, had this to say: "I like him very much. Nobody has done anything for us so far."
Young Kalpana vouched for Vijay. "In our family, all votes are for Vijay," she claimed.
However, an auto driver, C Muthiah, reminded that Perambur is a DMK fortress. The party has won the seat in most elections held since 1952. The alliance is strong. "We have the Communists, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), the Congress, and several other parties. So, DMK will win," he asserted.
His son, M Narasimhan, is a social activist and a VCK supporter.
Ranjith, a small entrepreneur in MGR Nagar, said the majority in the locality, which consists mostly of Christians and marginalised sections of people, would vote for Vijay.
Speaking of minority votes, actor Karunas, whose Mukkulathor Pulippadai is part of the DMK alliance, had on Sunday questioned how Vijay suddenly became Joseph Vijay?
N Krishnaveni, a traditional AIADMK supporter, said there is a chance for Vijay this time.
P Neelakandan, a retired government servant, said that he hasn't seen the Perambur MLA for ages. He added that times are difficult and the price of essential commodities has gone up. He said he's happy that Vijay is contesting from Perambur this time.
"Stalin sir thaan varuvaaru" (Stalin sir will come to power again), affirmed an auto driver, M Elappa, who has two daughters and a son. "The welfare schemes like the monthly assistance of Rs 1,000 (the Tamil Nadu government’s Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai Thittam provides Rs 1,000 monthly to eligible women heads of households aged 21+ to boost their financial independence) and free-fare rides in buses for women are really helping a large section of the people," he said. In the manifesto released on Sunday, the financial assistance for women has been increased from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000.
Besides Shekar and Vijay, the PMK, a constituent of the AIADMK-BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has fielded M Thilakabama, while Seeman's Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) has fielded Vetri Tamizhan in the constituency.
According to psephologist Arun Krishnamurthy, there is definitely a lot of excitement in the air after Vijay announced that he would be contesting from here (besides Tiruchy East) for the upcoming Assembly elections.
But Krishnamurthy cautioned The New Indian Express that it's too early to jump to a conclusion. "I think it's too early to come to any conclusion. It'll take at least 10 days before we get clarity," he said.
