An interesting four-cornered contest in on the cards in the Krishnagiri Parliamentary constituency where two new faces from the principal Dravidian parties and two former MLAs representing the PMK and Congress are crossing swords in this summer’s polls.
The DMK, which has represented the constituency during the past 15 years, has replaced its two-time MP E G Sugavanam, once famously described by party president M Karunanidhi as “an ant that entered into the ears of an elephant” after he won against AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa in the Bargur Assembly constituency in 1996. The party has fielded P Chinna Pillappa.
The AIADMK too has fielded a new face K Ashok Kumar, replacing advocate Nanjegowde who lost in 2004 and 2009.
PMK president G K Mani, a three-time MLA who was elected twice from Pennagaram Assembly constituency in neighbouring Dharmapuri district and once from Mettur in Salem district, is also in the fray with the backing of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
The fourth contestant is Dr A Chellakumar of the Congress. He is a two-time MLA who was elected in 1991 from Anna Nagar constituency in Chennai on a Congress ticket and subsequently on a Tamil Maanila Congress ticket from T Nagar in Chennai in 1996.
The electoral profile of this western constituency in one of Tamil Nadu’s most backward districts has undergone an interesting change in the past 35 years. From giving comfortable space to national parties including the Janata Dal, the electorate has consistently veered towards the Dravidian parties in the last four elections.
While the AIADMK won in its debut election in 1977 defeating the DMK, it lost the subsequent election held in 1980 ceding the seat to the Congress. The national party retained the seat in 1984 defeating a DMK candidate and went on to win the elections in 1989 and 1991 defeating the Janata Dal candidate on both occasions. In 1996, the TMC wrested the seat from the Congress but ceded it to the AIADMK in 1998. Subsequently, it has been a DMK stronghold.
In the absence of any wave or electoral data that would suggest a possibility of a major variation in these vote share figures, it appears that Krishnagiri will more or less see a clash between the two Dravidian parties.
