TIRUCHY: A tug-of-war between alliance parties has raised stakes for the Srirangam Assembly constituency with both the AIADMK and BJP vying hard to contest from there. Srirangam, which falls under Tiruchy district, became the centre-piece after former chief minister J Jayalalithaa contested from there in 2011. Jayalalithaa had implemented various developmental projects.
According to sources, while the BJP wants to contest from the seat, considering it to be the home of Sri Ranganathaswamy temple, the AIADMK does not want to cede its hold. The constituency is currently held by Backward Classes Minister S Valarmathi. The caste dynamics here also play a major role as a majority of voters are from the Mutharaiyar community, besides Brahmins and those from Devendrakula Velalar community.
While the AIADMK plans to capitalise on winning the seat by nominating a candidate from the Mutharaiyar community, the BJP plans on winning the trust of the other two communities. “Srirangam constituency is one of our top choices as it is part of the BJP’s plan to contest from all the temple towns across the State. The constituency is among our ‘A’ category list, that is we have a clear chance of winning from there. We are negotiating hard for the constituency and we want to contest from there,” said a BJP district functionary who is privy to the alliance talks.
Meanwhile, in the AIADMK camp, apart from the sitting MLA Valarmathi, former Srirangam MLAs — Ku Pa Krishnan, KK Balasubramaniam and M Paranjothi — too, have expressed their willingness to contest from the seat. “There is no need for our leadership to concede a constituency from where former CM had personally contested. It holds high significance in terms of party value and the election fight. Allowing alliance partner to contest from Srirangam may demotivate our cadre,” said a senior AIADMK functionary.