THANJAVUR: The flocks of Painted Storks flying over Mannargudi never fail to find their way to the Vaduvur Bird Sanctuary, located about 15 km from the town. Along the highway, vibrant patches of young summer paddy, alternating with fields freshly harvested of samba and thaladi, take the migrant birds directly to the wetland sanctuary.
At a small makeshift shelter just outside the newly-built Mannargudi bus stand, auto drivers sit sipping tea, seeking relief from the scorching afternoon sun. Their casual ‘chai pe charcha’ inevitably drifts to the perennial issue of unemployment.
“Here, the youth need job opportunities in the nearby areas. The garment unit announced in the constituency needs to start to operations at the earliest. More industrial estates are needed to absorb the aspirants in the area,” says R Chandravadivelan, a trained welder, who has been operating an auto-rickshaw for more than a decade after the chemical unit in the constituency, where he was working then downed shutters.
Incidentally, the government has already announced a SIPCOT estate in Mannargudi taluk.
K Ramesh, a trader from Mannargudi, whose two daughters are engineering graduates and now working in Chennai and Coimbatore, nods in agreement. “A mini Tidel park, like the one in Thanjavur, should be established in Mannargudi. There is also a need to establish engineering, polytechnic colleges here,” he adds.
Ramesh is, however, happy with the pace of developmental works in the town during the tenure of the incumbent MLA, T R B Rajaa, who is serving as industries minister in the Stalin government. Seconding him, R Ramanathan, another local resident, opines that the DMK minister may have an edge over his opponents.
Rajaa is also confident of a win. Addressing a campaign meeting, he says, “We had been asking the AIADMK during their rule to make at least a shade in the Mannargudi bus stand using our MLA Constituency Development Scheme fund. Even for that they did not give permission. After DMK came to power, we combined two parts and developed a new bus stand at a cost of Rs 46.46 crore.”
In the hinterland of Mannargudi town, farmers have their own expectations and issues to be solved. “The direct paddy procurement centres (DPCs) are now being opened belatedly well after the harvest season began. The farmers whose harvest was delayed could not sell the paddy,” says T Jagannath, a farmer from Pamani village. DPCs need to be opened as soon as the season starts and be kept open till the last farmer of an area sells his paddy, he adds.
“Availability of fertilisers and their quality is also posing a problem. There is a scarcity of fertiliser for the current summer paddy,” he says, adding that many traders ask them to buy in bulk now for the Kuruvai season to avoid possible non-availability due to the war against Iran.
K Govindaraj of Ullikkottai also echoes the fertiliser issue and adds farmers are expecting loan waiver and widespread availability of storage facilities for produces like black gram to avoid distress selling.
At this juncture, voters expect a keen contest between DMK and AMMK, a partner in AIADMK-NDA alliance, this time. T R B Rajaa, elected thrice from Mannargudi, faces S Kamaraj, Tiruvarur district secretary, who was earlier the district secretary of AIADMK. In 2021, when AIADMK and AMMK contested separately, Rajaa won with a comfortable margin of 37,393 votes. This time, both AIADMK and AMMK have joined hands and are expected to give him a good fight, if there is a perfect vote transfer. In the 2021, S Kamaraj of AMMK managed to secure 40,481 votes, way above Rajaa’s margin. Siva Rajamanickam of AIADMK had secured 49,779 votes.
Meanwhile, TVK has fielded U V M Rajarajan, its south district secretary. NTK has fielded Dr R Bharathiselvan, a well-known cardiologist of Mannargudi town, who had commenced his campaign early. The entry of S Rasupillai of Sasikala’s new party AIPTMMK has added a new dimension. He is likely to eat into the votes of AMMK candidate Kamaraj.
Interestingly, the DMK, AMMK, TVK and AIPTMMK candidates are from Mukkulathor community which is the predominant in the constituency. Though the auto drivers who gathered in their makeshift shelter have different views on Rajaa’s performance, they are unanimous that he has better chances than his principal rival.
Every season, Vaduvur Sanctuary welcomes nearly half a lakh migratory birds, flying in from Europe, Central Asia, and even as far as the Americas. This is an annual ritual. Will the 2026 Assembly election repeat its usual trend as well? We’ll have to wait until May 4 to find out.