PUDUCHERRY: The general mood of discontent among the Karaikal residents against the local Congress government mainly due to underdevelopment of the region is likely to reflect in the forthcoming Parliamentary elections.
The region has 1.2 lakh voters out of the total electorate of 7.5 lakh voters in the Union Territory (UT). At its meeting on March 7, Karaikal Struggle Group (KSG), which spearheads a movement for separate UT status for the region, urged the people to vote against the Congress. It alleged that the ruling party was ‘discriminating’ Karaikal, so people should vote for the political party that assured separate UT status for the region.
The Congress had suffered a setback in Karaikal in the last Assembly elections, when it lost all the four seats it contested. Karaikal was a stronghold of the party some years ago. Even its ally, the DMK, had a tough time in the two constituencies allotted to it.
KSG has cautioned the voters regarding the use of vote bank for political advantage and appealed to the people to vote against ‘traitors’, said S P Selvashanmugham, convenor, KSG. The same goes for the DMK.
Poor infrastructure, lack of medical facility, unemployment are the main problems here.
The government initiated several projects, such as development of Thirunallar as a model temple town but majority of these projects did not progress well. Similarly work on the fishing harbour, which was started three years ago, is only 25 per cent complete. Apart from that, policy matters are also likely to affect the voting decision. Fishermen in the area are affected by the Sri Lankan Navy and the present policy of the Centre regarding Lanka may tilt the fishermen’s vote against the Congress.
Another deciding factor is unemployment among youth, who accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the votes here. They do not have the opportunity or resources to compete and excel. Even vacancies in Karaikal are filled by candidates from Puducherry.
