VILLUPURAM: The recent back-and-forth between DMK chief MK Stalin and PMK founder S Ramadoss may give the impression that the battle for victory in the Vikravandi assembly bypoll is about the battle for the Vanniyar vote. However, residents, in the constituency formed in 2007, point out that caste alone no longer determines how people vote.
“In the past, there were caste clashes in our village. At that time, people would vote based on the caste of the candidate. If the candidate is not a Vanniyar, they will vote for whoever has the support of the PMK. But that has changed. The recent Lok Sabha election result is proof of it,” said N Vadivel, a resident of Mampazhapattu village.
Indeed, although the DMK allied with PMK in 2011, it lost to its current ally CPM which had joined hands with AIADMK at the time.Nonetheless, both parties have fielded Vanniyar candidates — N Pughazhenthi of DMK and M R Muthamizhselvan of AIADMK. Stalin has focused on wooing the Vanniyar community while Ramadoss has dismissed his efforts as “drama”. What PMK — and its ally AIADMK — is counting on is a repeat of their performance in the 2016 Assembly polls when the party went it alone but managed to secure 41,119 votes. What they fear is a repeat of their performance in the recent Lok Sabha polls in Villupuram.
VCK general secretary D Ravikumar won the reserved seat, under which Vikravandi falls, on the DMK symbol, easily defeating the PMK candidate. Despite this, the main opposition party is keeping the VCK at arm’s length. While VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan briefly campaigned here, Ravikumar has not been seen much.
The DMK is not alone in that. The AIADMK too has not concentrated much on the Dalit community.
Still many here say it is not caste, but cash that will be the deciding factor. A young woman from Radhapuram told Express that, although she is Vanniyar and her husband an active member of PMK, she voted for another party during the Lok Sabha polls as it had given her the most money.Between caste and cash, the issues sometimes seem hidden. Yet, this agricultural region is in need of development.
Farmers have seen sugarcane cultivation badly hit due to low rainfall. As a stopgap, many have turned to pulse cultivation and are hoping the Nandhan canal project finally takes off.Similarly, they want pending payments from private and government sugar mills to be settled at the earliest. Further, most villages and towns here lack basic amenities such as water supply, roads and drainage. A candidate who resolves these issues may be assured of re-election.
Already AIADMK government has allotted `40 crore for Nandhan Canal project and started the work. I will speak to the Chief Minister after winning the election, nd make sure the works get over as soon as possible. As accidents are taking place in high numbers on the Chennai-Trichy highway in Mundiampakkam, I will bring a overbridge to the highway by taking the issue to the government’s attention M R Muthamizhselvan, AIADMK candidate
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