Tenkasi Parliamentary constituency (reserved) will see a five-cornered contest between the AIADMK, Puthiya Tamilagam (PT), CPI, MDMK and the Congress this time.
The constituency comprises four assembly segments from Tirunelveli district - Tenkasi, Kadayanallur, Vasudevanallur, and Sankarankoil - and two from Virudhunagar district - Rajapalayam and Srivilliputhur. Of the six, Sankarankoil, Vasudevanallur and Srivilliputhur are reserved for Scheduled Caste.
Though considered to be a Congress bastion since 1957, the AIADMK conquered it first in 1998 and again in 1999. Later, the CPI, in alliance with the DMK and AIADMK respectively, managed to win the seat in the 2004 and 2009 parliamentary elections.
In the 2011 Assembly elections, the AIADMK alliance won all the six assembly segments, with its ally CPI winning the Srivilliputhur segment. Besides, the AIADMK also retained Sankarankoil constituency in the 2012 by-election necessitated by the death of former MLA C Karuppasamy.
Though P Lingam and Sadhan Tirumalaikumar have considerable clout, the real battle would be between Vasanthi Murugesan and Krishnasamy. Krishnasamy had secured more than a lakh votes without aligning with either the AIADMK or DMK in the 2004 and 2009 elections.
Major demands of this constituency include increase in train services from Shenkottai to Chennai, converting the Silambu Express into a direct train to Chennai without the two-hour delay at Manamadurai, train service from Tirunelveli to Chennai via Tenkasi and converting the Shenkottai-Kollam route into broad gauge.
Commencement of work on projects like interlinking of the Pampa-Vaipparu rivers under the National Water Scheme to solve the water crisis in Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar and Thoothukudi districts, repairing the sluices in Shenbagavalli Dam to resolve water crisis in Sivagiri and Sankarankoil regions and the Varusanadu Hill Road Project are the other demands.