Battle lines may have been drawn between the AIADMK and the DMK for the Lok Sabha election with the two key national parties, the BJP and the Congress, choosing to have the two major Dravidian parties as their respective alliance leaders.
Theni Lok Sabha constituency in south Tamil Nadu, gives an impression that the AIADMK faces a tough battle here since the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam of T. T. V. Dhinakaran has a meaningful clout within the ruling party and among the general public as well.
Theni Lok Sabha constituency was formed in 2008, following delimitation. Earlier, the district had Periyakulam Lok Sabha constituency. In the 15 elections conducted till 2004, Periyakulam seat was won by the AIADMK seven times, the Congress four times, the DMK twice and a Swatantra party candidate and an Independent have won once each. In the last two elections, Theni has returned Congress candidate J. M. Aaroon Rashid in 2009 and R. Parthiban of the AIADMK in 2014. Thus, Theni district has proved to be an AIADMK bastion.
While Mr. Parthiban polled a huge 5.71 lakh votes in 2014, leaving DMK’s Pon. Muthuramalingam with 2.56 lakh votes, MDMK’s Alagu Sundaram polled 1.34 lakh votes and Mr. Aaroon Rashid managing to get 71,000 votes. But things look different in 2019, a political observer in Bodinaickanur says.
Five years ago, the AIADMK was strong and united. But, today, it is not so. Though Edappadi K. Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam may say that the AMMK is not at all a serious contender, in reality, it is not so here. The clout the AMMK functionaries have with the people cannot be ignored.
Even during the last time, when Mr. Dhinakaran visited the constituency, people from different walks of life met him and recollected his contribution to renovation of temples.
The constituency, which has a major chunk of Mukkulathor voters , has also a good number of Dalits and Muslims spread over Theni and Uthamapalayam respectively, besides Naidus, Pillais and other minorities.
The district, though has a good potential for horticulture crops and scope for tourism development, had hit the media headlines for all wrong reasons in the last five years. To name a few, the Neutrino project and Mullaperiyar reservoir issue over rising of storage level, et al had received mixed response from the public. While the general impression is that the AIADMK had not done anything tangible, the opposition parties are keen to cash in on the anti-incumbency factor.
While the AIADMK had received close to 60 applications from its aspirants to contest in the parliamentary election from here, the political grapevine says that the name of O.P.S. Ravindranath Kumar, son of Mr. Panneerselvam, is on top of the board, while Rafiq of the AMMK is seriously making attempts to contest with Mr. Dhinakaran’s blessings. If the seat goes to the Congress, Mr. Aaroon’s son may be the candidate.