Who gets what in TN polls: A game of musical chairs

NAMAKKAL/ARIYALUR: This election season, both the Dravidian majors are cautious to not repeat mistakes of the past. Even before the election dates were announced, seat-sharing agreements with smaller allies have almost been sealed. However, parties on both sides of this contest are struggling to decide who will get what, for that would be a decision based on every party’s strengths and weaknesses in each of the constituency.  

For instance, in the DMK combine, the fight for Namakkal constituency has already begun. As the sitting MLA, KPP Baskar of AIADMK, won this seat twice, the Opposition camp is expecting the anti-incumbency factor to work in their favour. But, who will bell the cat? Both Congress and DMK have names to suggest. Two Namakkal DMK in-charges – S Gandhiselvan and KRN Rajeshkumar – have been pushing hard to get a ticket for the seat. 

“Three constituencies come under the Namakkal East district unit of the party,” explains one leader. “Two of those three are reserved for SC/ST candidates, while both S Gandhiselvan and KRN Rajeshkumar hail from the Gounder community. As a result, the competition is tough. Both of them have approached the high command for the seat.” Gandhiselvan was fielded twice by the party, in 2001 and 2006. Though he lost both the times, the margin during the second attempt was a mere 116 votes.

Sources say it’s unlikely that the party will give him a ticket. There’s also Congress in the mix. A former Congress district president, KM Sheik Naveeth, said: “In the 2016 elections, Congress’ R Chezhian secured a total of 75,542 votes against the sitting MLA Baskar, who got 89,076 votes. So, we have a vote bank here. However, we are yet to choose the candidate in Namakkal. After the seat-sharing talks with DMK, the party chief will decide where we will be contesting from.”

Three-cornered contest for Jayankondam ticket
Panning focus to Jayankodam constituency in Ariyalur, functionaries from both, the BJP and PMK are desperately striving to get the seat. On the other hand, the AIADMK, which is currently representing the constituency, also wants to retain it in the upcoming elections. The constituency has a majority of Vanniyar population. 

With the announcement of 10.5 per cent internal reservation for the community, the PMK is hopeful of winning the seat easily. The party’s State deputy general secretary, TMT Thirumavalavan, and State secretary of the Vanniyar Sangam, K Vaithilingam, are eyeing the constituency from the PMK camp. Both of them are residents of the constituency and enjoy command over a considerable support base. 

SP Kamaraj, PMK’s social media wing state secretary, said: “We have proven our vote bank in the 2016 elections and the local body elections held last year. With the 10.5 per cent reservation, our party’s popularity has grown among the community, and hence the constituency should be allotted to us.” However, BJP’s Ariyalur district president, SK Iyyappan, is also hopeful. He, too, belongs to the Vanniyar community and was a former member of the Vanniyar Sangam. The saffron cadre have already begun preparations by painting the lotus symbol on the walls at several places.

They say that there are factions within the PMK camp in Jayankondam and there is no unity among them, and hence, the seat should be given to them for a sure win. Iyyappan said, “BJP has already formed booth committees across the constituency, and we have branches in all the villages here. So, if Jayankondam is allotted to us, we will surely win.” It is also to be noted that the BJP and the PMK had locked horns several months ago when Iyyappan was enrolling PMK supporters into the saffron party.

AIADMK functionaries are also putting in efforts to retain the constituency. AIADMK’s JKN Ramajeyalingam, who is currently the MLA from Jayankondam, is looking forward to get the ticket again. The party functionaries have also painted the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol on walls at villages, leaving a blank space to write the candidate’s name. An AIADMK functionary said, “Why would we leave the constituency for others when we have a sitting MLA here? We won in 2016 with a huge margin, and we will retain the constituency.” Several AIADMK functionaries are also camping in Chennai to ensure that the constituency is retained. 

Assembly passes Vote on Account Bill
Chennai: The State Assembly on Saturday, passed the Tamil Nadu Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill, which provides for withdrawal of money from the Consolidated Fund for a part of the financial year commencing on April 1. After this, Speaker P Dhanapal adjourned the session sine dine. During the Zero Hour, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam presented the final supplementary estimates for the year 2020-2021 for a whopping sum of Rs 21,172.82 crore. Of this, Rs 17,790.85 is in the Revenue Account, while Rs 3,381.97 crore is in the Capital and Loan Accounts. He said Rs 102.38 has been allocated for conducting the Assembly elections. 

‘Gifting day’ postponed in Valparai
Coimbatore: AIADMK cadre in Valparai who had procured gifts to distribute it to the public, are now a helpless lot. With the election date announced, the party people requested the police to seal a room where they stored the gift items. They gave a petition at Valparai police station, stating that the gifts were meant to be distributed to the people on the eve of former CM Jayalalithaa’s birthday. A police officer said, as the election date was announced on Friday and the Model Code of Conduct came into effect subsequently, they couldn’t proceed ahead with distributing the gifts on February 28. Hence, they requested us to seal the room containing the gifts.” Their petition is referred to the Revenue Department, the source added.