TIRUCHY: With the DMK recently having held seat sharing talks with its alliance partners for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, all eyes are on Tiruchy constituency as almost all of them have publicly expressed interest for the seat, notwithstanding the increasing calls for it to be retained by the ruling party itself.
Underlining the same, DMK treasurer TR Baalu in a public meeting in the city on Saturday said, "Every single one of our alliance partners is asking for Tiruchy seat (to be allotted to them). It’s so mainly because of the strong foundation the DMK has in the region and the fieldwork undertaken by its two ministers -- KN Nehru and Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi."
While DMK functionaries pitch KN Arun Nehru, the son of Minister Nehru, for candidature, saying that no opponent would then be able to even retain their deposit in the election, its alliance partners have with little hesitation sought Tiruchy to be allotted for their own.
One among them is the MDMK, who as early as last year adopted a resolution in a party meeting conveying cadres’ wish to allot Tiruchy parliamentary constituency to itself.
Its leader, Durai Vaiko, in a fundraising event held recently in Tiruchy even expressed interest for contesting from the parliamentary constituency.
“The cadre wish that I contest from Tiruchy. The DMK leadership together with ours will decide on it," he had said.
Vellamandi Somu, MDMK’s Tiruchy urban district secretary said, "We have a strong base in the constituency. As many as 900 booth committees have been readied ahead of the polls." "We are in the hope that history will repeat. L Ganesan, who was then with the MDMK, won the 2004 parliamentary election from Tiruchy under the DMK alliance. With the same strong alliance we hope we get the seat again," Somu added.
This comes when incumbent MP Su Thirunavukkarasar from the Congress, too, has expressed keenness to contest again from Tiruchy.
A section of party workers, however, express their disinterest in Thirunavukkarasar contesting again. They instead want J Jerome Louis, another local Congress leader, to be the party candidate.
The IUML also expects its long-time alliance partner to allot Tiruchy constituency to them.
Party sources said they reminded the DMK about their interest for the constituency even in the meeting at Anna Arivalayam in Chennai last week.
On the heightened interest, Viduthalai Arasu, a political activist from Srirangam, said, "Tiruchy has a unique demography. It has a good number of religious minorities as residents – they account for the anti-BJP votes. Besides, the DMK has a strong base in the constituency. Importantly, the AIADMK weakened in Tiruchy due to its splits. There are also not many social conflicts in Tiruchy. Hence there is hardly polarisation based on communities. That is why every party in INDIA alliance is eyeing Tiruchy seat."