Situated close to Coimbatore city, Sulur is home to a large number of weavers and farmers, who look to the government or their elected representative to address their woes, both new and long-pending.

The constituency came into existence following the delimitation exercise carried out before the 2011 Assembly election. It broadly comprises 36 village panchayats, which fall within two panchayat unions — Sulur and Sulthanpet — and eight town panchayats.

The death of AIADMK MLA R. Kanagaraj on March 21 necessitated a byelection to the Sulur Assembly constituency, due to be held on May 19.

There are about 1.5 lakh powerlooms in the areas that fall under the limits of Sulur panchayat union. The most important issue affecting the weavers is their wages.

Every three years, the weavers negotiate with clients, in the presence of Labour Department officials, for a better wage structure. In 2014, revised wages were fixed, but not implemented. “For implementing the wage structure agreed in 2014, we, the weavers, protested thrice – in 2015, 2016 and again in 2017, when new wage talks were due. In all, we protested for 89 days, but till date, we have not received the wages fixed in 2014,” rues C. Palanisamy, leader of the Kovai-Tiruppur Mavatta Koolikku Nesavu Seiyum Visaithari Urimaiyalar Sangam.

“To improve the powerloom textile trade, the new MLA should take steps to build a trade centre in Somanur,” says K. Mylsamy, a weaver.

A goods handling facility at Somanur railway station is another demand.

On the agricultural front, the farmers want the State government to construct a canal that branches off the PAP canal to cover villages that are now rain-fed. They also want the government to implement the Anamalaiyaru-Nallaru river-linking scheme.

“Currently, water is available only 30 days a year. Earlier, we used to get water 130 days a year,” says G. Balasubramaniam, a farmer.

In the northern parts of the constituency, farmers want the government to link Noyyal river with the Upparu and cover areas left out of the Athikadavu-Avinashi groundwater recharge scheme.

In the 2016 Assembly election, Sulur voted for the AIADMK’s Kanagaraj, who secured 1,00,977 votes.

This time, Kanagaraj's cousin V.P. Kandasamy is contesting for the party. Taking him on are former DMK Minister Pongalur N. Palanisamy, the MNM’s G. Mayilswamy, the Naam Tamilar Katchi’s M.V. Vijayaraghavan, the AMMK’s K. Sugumar and 17 independents.