TIRUCHY: Being among the first opposition leaders to tour the delta districts and assess the impact of the recent rains on crop cultivation in the region, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has once again played up his agrarian identity — a political image he carefully cultivated as the “farmer” – as he seeks to reclaim the party’s lost ground in the central districts.
Palaniswami’s recent visit to rain-hit Nagapattinam, Thanjavur and Tiruvarur, though brief, was symbolically charged — standing amid inundated paddy fields and hearing farmers’ complaints on procurement delays.
“I am not here for politics; my only demand is to expedite procurement to save farmers,” he had said, blaming the DMK’s “administrative failure”. The visit followed his statewide campaign last month, during which he met farmers’ representatives across the delta districts, heard their grievances and reinforced his connection with the agrarian community.
The recent visit marks his latest bid to revive his agrarian image, a theme he championed during the 2021 Assembly polls when he called himself the ‘farmer chief minister’ and declared the Cauvery delta a Protected Agriculture Zone in 2020. But the pitch failed to translate into votes — the DMK swept 37 of the 41 constituencies across nine delta and central districts, leaving the AIADMK with just four seats, including one each in Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur and Thanjavur.
The AIADMK had fared better in 2016, winning 12 of the 19 seats in Tiruchy, Perambalur, Ariyalur and Pudukkottai, and nine of 17 in Thanjavur, Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur, when late party leader J Jayalalithaa contested from Srirangam. Back in 2011, the AIADMK under Jayalalithaa nearly swept the delta region, winning eight of nine seats in Tiruchy, all six in Pudukkottai, the majority in Thanjavur (five of eight) and Nagapattinam (six of eight), and one each in Perambalur and Ariyalur.
“The decline began after Jayalalithaa’s death. The leadership vacuum and shifting caste alignments weakened the AIADMK’s grassroots support,” said journalist Priyan Srinivasan, noting that Palaniswami now faces a strong K N Nehru-led DMK network that dominates the region which remains intact after consecutive election victories post the 2019 parliamentary election.
Party insiders admit revival will take more than symbolic visits. “We are reorganising booth-level committees and targeting seats like Poompuhar, Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai, where margins were narrow,” said an AIADMK IT wing functionary, adding that Palaniswami plans to pick candidates “purely based on ground data”.
Senior journalist Durai Karuna said the delta region’s mood mirrors a statewide trend after Jayalalithaa’s demise. “Her personal appeal once united the delta. After her, that glue is missing,” he said. “Palaniswami’s caste identity and lack of a strong local face have hurt the AIADMK, while many BC and SC voters have shifted to the DMK. His farmer image alone won’t help him win more seats,” he added.
Former minister and AIADMK leader R Kamaraj, however, said that the party still holds “a strong base” in the region due to “deep organisational roots and enduring caste equations”. He remarked, “If the DMK is as strong as it claims, why didn’t it prepare for the record (paddy) harvest? Farmers are suffering due to administrative failure, not politics.”
