Soon after the Congress ended the suspense and fielded Karti Chidambaram in the Sivaganga Parliamentary constituency on Sunday evening, he exuded confidence that the “formidable alliance” led by DMK would work in his favour.
Sivaganga had been synonymous with his father former Union Minister P. Chidambaram, till he opted out of electoral politics in 2014.
To take on H. Raja
Mr. Karti will take on BJP national secretary H. Raja. In 2014, he finished fourth in the constituency, but was among the only two Congress candidates in Tamil Nadu who had polled over a lakh votes — the other being H. Vasanthakumar in Kanniyakumari.
This time, Mr. Karti was locked in a tough fight for the Sivaganga ticket with E.M. Sudarshana Nachiappan, former Sivaganga MP and Union Minister, staking claim, which put the party in a dilemma.
The party leadership was keen on not fielding relatives of established leaders. In fact, on Sunday morning, TNCC president K.S. Alagiri acknowledged this saying the stalemate over Sivaganga candidate persisted as Congress president Rahul Gandhi had decided that only one person from a family would be given ticket for the Lok Sabha poll. “It is not only in Sivaganga, but the situation persists in 40 seats across India. In 40 seats, various family members are asking for seats. They (high command) are going to meet all 40 and take a decision,” he said.
However, hours later the issue was sorted out. Sources indicated that party veterans in the Congress Election Committee intervened in favour of Mr. Karti. He is expected to file his nomination on Monday.
Strategies drawn
Mr. Karti has already commenced the leg work by drawing campaign strategies and forming WhatsApp groups to reach out to the electorate through party office-bearers in the six Assembly segments: four in the district and two — Thirumayam and Alangudi — in the neighbouring Pudukottai district.
Mr. Karti made light of the delay in naming his candidature, saying that the high command had to screen candidates from all over the country. “We still have time to file the nomination,” he said.
Mr. Karti told The Hindu that the formidable alliance built under the leadership of the DMK, akin to the 2004 alliance, would work overwhelmingly in his favour.
“The mood against the fascist BJP government headed by Narendra Modi and the inept AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu will ensure a resounding victory to all the candidates of the DMK-Congress alliance,” he said. The people were very clear that the BJP government should be changed and his extensive tour had given a feedback on various issues.
Major issues
“The demonetisation, faulty GST and lack of job opportunities are the major issues that will decide the outcome of the elections. There is a sense of fear among the Dalits and minorities. Locally, the poor response from the Centre to the Gaja cyclone and failure to release crop insurance even though farmers had paid premium will work against the BJP and the AIADMK. The women are angry because of the deep rise in cable television charges,” he added.
Asked if those who were denied seats would undermine his campaign, Mr. Karti said voters in Sivaganga and Pudukottai overwhelmingly support him. “Every frontal organisation of the Congress and the alliance parties fully support my candidature. I am familiar with the people of the area and they are known to me very well because I have worked in 10 general elections,” he said.
Meanwhile, a section of party cadre protested against the candidature of K. Jayakumar in the Tiruvallur reserved constituency at the entrance of Satyamurthi Bhavan, They also engaged in an argument with Mr. Alagiri seeking to replace the candidate with K. Selvaperunthagai.
(With inputs from D.J. Walter Scott in Sivaganga)