‘Machan’ vs Bachan face off in Cuddalore
CUDDALORE: After praying for his victory at an Ayyanar temple near Cuddalore last week, PMK candidate Thangar Bachan sat next to Selvaraj, an octogenarian who told fortune using a parakeet, who predicted Bachan would taste a resounding victory. The filmmaker thanked him, fed the parakeet a banana and left.
Ironically, Selvaraj was arrested a couple of days later by the forest department, as using parakeets was an offence. While it led to ridicule by many that the fortune teller could not predict his own future, let alone Bachan’s, the whole incident was, however, indicative of the campaign-style the PMK candidate has adopted to win Cuddalore, which has eluded PMK for long, despite the dominant presence of Vanniyars - the community over which the party claims to hold sway.
Unlike his principal opponent, MK Vishnuprasad of Congress, Bachan’s campaign is marked by personal interactions with people during his visits. Although he has settled in Chennai, he leverages the fact that he has his roots in Cuddalore and contrasts it with ‘outsider’ Vishnuprasad who hails from Tiruvannamalai and had won from Arani constituency in the last election.
The fight put up by Bachan and his party, however spirited, may not be easy if one looks at Cuddalore’s electoral history. In the 13 elections since 1971, Congress and DMK, both of which are in alliance now, have won 11 times. Congress won seven times, its offshoot Tamil Maanila Congress won once in 1996 and DMK won thrice. AIADMK won the other two times.
After losing the elections in 1989 and 1991, PMK directly contested in the constituency after a long gap in 2019 and came runner-up by securing 36.4% votes against 50.3% votes secured by DMK’s TRVS Ramesh. This was the party’s best performance in the constituency, aided by its alliance with AIADMK and DMDK.
Sources in PMK said it was keen to contest Cuddalore as part of the BJP-led alliance as it sees an advantage since DMK has given the constituency to Congress. DMK’s decision was primarily driven by incumbent Ramesh facing a murder case, according to party sources.
Interestingly, Vishnuprasad is the brother-in-law of PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss, leading to questions whether his party loyalists should vote for machan (brother-in-law) or Bachan. However, Anbumani in a meeting asked voters to choose Bachan.
The third key contestant is P Sivakozhundhu of DMDK, which is in alliance with AIADMK. After DMDK was launched, the party made noticeable inroads into the constituency eating into PMK’s vote share. Party founder and late actor Vijayakanth’s first electoral victory in 2006 Assembly election came from Vriddachalam under Cuddalore.
Sivakozhundhu himself is a former DMDK MLA of Panruti constituency, also under Cuddalore, and a native of the district. Though DMDK directly contested in 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it managed to secure only third position with less than 15% vote share. Speculations were rife that that former AIADMK minister MC Sampath would contest from Cuddalore, but the constituency was allotted to DMDK.
All the three key contestants are from the Vanniyar community.
Meanwhile, NTK, which secured 3.34% vote share in the 2019 election, has fielded V Manivasagam.
Past trends, conversion of Dalit votes owing to the presence of VCK in the alliance, and the fact that MLAs from all the six assembly segments belong to DMK or Congress, indicate that the DMK-led alliance has an advantage. However, rifts within the DMK at the district level, opposition to land acquisition for NLC India Limited and the construction of Vallalar International Centre in Vadalur, and problems over the shifting of bus stand in Cuddalore to M Puthur may prove to be hurdles for the alliance.
Party sources said that rifts between camps loyal to DMK Ministers MRK Panneerselvam and CV Ganesan were visible in some of the preparatory meetings.
On the NLCIL issue, while Paneerselvam managed to address many of villagers’ concerns by securing concessions from the company, including job opportunities, PMK gained support by protesting in support of the farmers during the land acquisition process. Those from the DMK-led alliance are trying to counter the opposition by saying that NLCIL is a union government’s company and the PMK is now in alliance with the BJP, the ruling party at the centre.
Despite opposition from locals and followers of Vallalar against the construction of the international centre near Thiru Arutprakasa Vallalar Deiva Nilayam, the state government seems keen to go ahead. Opposition parties, especially BJP and PMK, are leveraging this issue.
Besides this, many long pending issues of the constituency may also influence voters. Pollution from industries in SIPCOT at Cuddalore has been a long-standing concern, with many of the view that neither AIADMK nor DMK adequately addressed it during their rule.
V Narayanan of Panruti, a cashew vendor, said that more than 50,000 families in Cuddalore district depend on cashew cultivation and processing works, directly or indirectly. “However, we are facing threats from imported cashew from foreign countries, especially from African countries.”
P Haridoss, retired deputy director of agriculture department and resident of Naduveerapattu near Panruti, pointed out that jackfruit cultivation took place in 800 hectares in Cuddalore district, one-fifth of the total cultivation in the state. “Due to efforts taken by the Kerala government, farmers there are making value-added products and are earning additional income. They have nearly six incubation centres to make value-added products. We need such centres here also,” he said.