VIRUDHUNAGAR: Despite being home to many an industry, including cracker manufacturing units, offset printing press, matchbox and handlooms that play a significant role in contributing to the country’s economy, the working-class people in Virudhunagar Lok Sabha constituency are not all happy, as they have a bunch of unfulfilled demands, including safe working place and sufficient wages.
The DMK and its allies are in power in four assembly segments in Virudhunagar district, which has over 8.9 lakh voters. Meanwhile, AIADMK enjoys the power in the other two assembly segments in Madurai district. It has a total voter count of over 6 lakh.
In the three parliamentary elections held in the constituency since 2009 following the delimitation, Congress candidate and the incumbent MP Manickam Tagore (48) won twice (2009 and 2019), and the late AIADMK candidate T Radhakrishnan won once (2014).
For this election, the ruling DMK has allotted a seat to Congress in the constituency, fielding the incumbent Tagore. Until the seat allotment was declared officially, speculations were rife that the DMK would assign a seat to its other ally MDMK, and field the party’s principal secretary Durai Vaiko.
Though the voters have reservations on Tagore’s performance as MP of the constituency in 10 years, several factors including the community he belongs to, the highest vote bank in the constituency, contesting as the ruling party’s ally and the support from the two ministers are adding to his winning chances.
With two star candidates making their debut in the election, the constituency started gaining significant attention in the political landscape. However, Virudhunagar, identified as one of the 112 aspirational districts in the country by NITI Aayog, has many unsolved issues for years. Some of them include water scarcity due to lack of renovation of dams including Anaikuttam which was not able to store excess water due to shutter leakage. The constituency also is in urgent need of infrastructure development including roadways and railways.
Meanwhile, cracker unit workers in the region are worried due to the series of blasts happening now and then. From 2011 to 2023, the district recorded over 190 cracker unit explosions, with more than 338 people losing their lives. S Maheshpandi (33), a Kiliyampatti resident who recently lost his brother in a cracker explosion said, “The elected representatives are not implementing their poll promises and are focused on earning money. Despite the upcoming election having new MP candidates, I don’t hope it could bring any change in the people’s lives,” he said.
The assembly segments including Sattur, Virudhunagar, and Sivakasi cater to 60% of matchstick production in the state. Around 5 lakh people, predominantly women and migrant workers from Assam, Bihar, Orissa, and Uttar Pradesh, depend on the business for their livelihood. However, due to the increase in the sale of lighters, the sales of match box have declined by 50% and industries were not able to afford regular jobs to the workers.
The voters also wanted PM MITRA Park, considered to be a potential job opportunity for the residents, to be completed quickly. The park was proposed to be set up in B Kumaralingapuram to boost the local economy and create job opportunities.
Speaking to TNIE, Virudhunagar’s Chamber of Commerce and Industries Joint Secretary N Sathiyamoorthy insisted awareness and promotion have to be done to attract more investors for the PM MITRA Park. He also said due to the evolution in logistics, high movement of heavy vehicles has been witnessed in this industrial town in recent years. However, the roads are not proper, and the issue needs major attention, he said.
The delay in the construction of AIIMS and providing international status to Madurai airport has also been a major concern in the constituency. Functioning for more than 60 years, the airport has yet to gain the status. However, airports that started functioning after Madurai were recognised as international airports and some of them even gained the status despite not having international flight services.