Chennai's smallest constituency Chennai Central certainly is. But it doesn't lack either in terms of political heft or glamour.
The seat has been a DMK bastion -- a Maran bastion, if you will.
From 1996 to 2004, it was held by the late Murasoli Maran.
And from 2004 to 2024, his son Dayanidhi Maran also won the seat thrice with 2014 being the lone election he lost (to AIADMK's SR Vijayakumar).
2019 had seen Dayanidhi Maran win the constituency with 57.36% of the vote share and by a margin of over 3 lakh votes.
What are his chances this time around in Chennai Central which boasts, as an earlier report of ours had noted, a sizable population of Muslims and Scheduled Castes?
Let's talk Dayanidhi Maran
Voting preferences in Chennai Central from where DMK's Dayanidhi Maran is seeking reelection mirrors the views of a larger part of Tamil Nadu, says political observer and mediaperson Tharai Ilamathi.
"The composite nature of the constituency" is one key reason for it, he stresses.
Besides the minorities and the marginalised, there is a prominent presence of educated, business and working class people, many of whom are part of active trade unions.
"People in Chennai Central can clearly distinguish between assembly polls and general elections," he says.
When asked if Dayanidhi Maran is likely to win the Chennai Central constituency, senior journalist Priyan Srinivasan says, "Not likely, but surely!"
Explaining the reasons, he says, "Apart from the fact that the constituency is DMK's stronghold, many factors like Dayanidhi Maran's previous stints as an MP and his vibrant persona will work in his favour."
The likely NTK impact
Priyan says DMDK's candidate K Parthasarathy is hardly in the race.
He cites how ally AIADMK's partymen, ideally expected to be working to help him win, are actually working for J Jayavardhan, AIADMK's candidate from the Chennai South constituency.
Jayavardhan is the son of former TN minister D Jayakumar and pitted in an electoral battle against sitting DMK MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian (set to win again in 2024) and ex-Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan representing the BJP.
When asked about the prospects of the BJP's Chennai Central candidate, Vinoj P Selvam, Priyan says, "He might be able to garner votes, being a young face and with his strong business profile. But, he is nowhere close to winning the election."
Priyan is quite optimistic about the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) doing better than expected in the constituency. He says that party leader Seeman's firm anti-Modi, anti-DMK stance is garnering a fair bit of attention and might help increase the vote share of Dr R Karthikeyan, NTK's candidate in the constituency.
It must though be noted that Karthikeyan had won only 30,886 votes and a 3.95% vote share in the 2019 elections. The impact he might then have will be limited to better numbers and little else.
What a BJP booth had to offer
The senior journalist went on to note that in urban constituencies like Chennai Central, the functioning of an MP is largely confined to engaging in policy-level decisions and effective disbursal of funds. The local issues are usually sorted by the MLAs and councillors.
However, BJP party functionary R Gopi Das chose to disagree saying the ground reality in the constituency is so bad that the attention of the MP is very much needed to solve issues faced by the people.
Asked how his party's campaign is progressing, Gopi Das said the BJP cadres are trying to let people know what schemes the Centre has implemented for their welfare. Das' big worry is that many central government schemes have been mistaken for state schemes.
He is extremely confident that the BJP will come back to power at the Centre and emphasises that because of this only a BJP MP can fulfill the demands of the people in the constituency.
KA Mariyappan, another BJP functionary, can't wait to chime in with his thoughts.
A true flagbearer of 'Digital India', he slides through the NaMo app and excitedly points out that this is e-governance.
"People will come to know all government initiatives and achievements through it. Do you have the app?" he asks, hoping to win over a convert.
Soon, it is advice time from Mariyappan. He says that people in the constituency should start raising complaints by themselves through the many means available online. "The mentality that local party workers should take the initiative should change," he insists.
But with only Mariyappan and Gopi Das in the booth and two other cadres joining later, the BJP booth in Ayanawaram has very little other than these palpable bouts of excitement to offer...
