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Infrastructure, funding key election issues in Chennai, as BJP tries to breach DMK stronghold
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Summary
Come April 19, three constituencies in Chennai — North, South and Central — will pay a visit to the poll booth along with 36 others across Tamil Nadu. While the DMK is fielding all its incumbents, an ambitious BJP wants to break into what is widely regarded as a DMK bastion.
It’s a morning like any other on the campaign trail, for incumbent North Chennai MP Kalanidhi Veeraswamy. Now up for re-election, the DMK candidate meets supporters and canvases for votes in Perambur, widely regarded as the gateway to the older parts of the city in the North. Just months ago, parts of Kalanidhi’s constituency — neighbourhoods like Ennore and Tiruvottiyur — were ravaged by Cyclone Michaung.
The following week, an oil spill from a nearby Chennai Petroleum Corporation refinery made life worse, followed by a gas leak from a Coromandel Fertilizer unit in the vicinity. However, the incumbent MP is unfazed. He says voters understand.
“Our Chief Minister MK Stalin has ensured that each and every family was paid some money to compensate for their loss — ₹6,000,” he says, “In Tiruvottiyur, where the oil spill happened, families were paid ₹13,000. They understand that these are force majeures that are beyond the control of individuals.”
In fact, tightening environmental norms, putting life and livelihood over investments, and continued social spending are some of the key highlights of the DMK’s poll campaign in North Chennai. This is understandable given that just months ago, several parts of the region were covered by an oil slick that impacted thousands of fisherfolk.
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However, such remedies don’t count for much when existing infrastructure isn’t great to begin with — at least that is what the BJP is saying. In fact, the party is saying it through its long-time Tamil Nadu lieutenant in Tamilisai Soundararajan, brought out of political retirement, to contest from Tamil Nadu. The ex-governor of Telangana and Puducherry who resigned weeks ago to contest elections from Tamil Nadu is taking on the DMK’s incumbent in South Chennai, Thamizhachi Thangapandian.
Tamilisai’s focus is crystal clear: take on Chennai’s infrastructure — the lack of it — in South Chennai, in the context of recent flooding. “People lost lakhs and lakhs of money (in Cyclone Michaung), their TVs, cars, beds and books,” she says, “Is giving Rs 6,000 enough? They (DMK) are so proud of their Dravidian model, but they haven’t improved infrastructure.”
Come April 19, three constituencies in Chennai — North, South and Central — will pay a visit to the poll booth along with 36 others across Tamil Nadu. While the DMK is fielding all its incumbents, an ambitious BJP wants to break into what is widely regarded as a DMK bastion. After all, all three seats in Chennai are seeing their DMK incumbents, all of whom are well-known dynasts — Kalanidhi, Thamizhachi and Dayanidhi Maran — fighting for re-election just months after a debilitating cyclone and flood.
However, the DMK believes it has an ace up its sleeve: fiscal politics. The Centre has, to date, not announced a rehabilitation package for Tamil Nadu after Cyclone Michaung in December. It hasn’t parted with its share of funding for Phase 2 of the Chennai Metro Rail, either. These two facts feature prominently in Maran’s Central Chennai campaign.
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“Right now, we’ve gone ahead with the second phase of the metro, which is 120 kilometres, for which the Union Government is not contributing a single paise,” he says, speaking exclusively to CNBC-TV18 on the campaign trail, “They (Centre) are supposed to contribute 50% and the total project cost is ₹63,000 crore.”
Maran adds: “The Centre is purposely withholding development in Chennai and Tamil Nadu, but we don’t care; we are going to do it.” Analysts say the strategy might be working — more in the context of flood relief or the lack of it — than the Metro Rail.
“Repeatedly going to the people and saying that the Centre is victimizing or discriminating against Tamil Nadu will have some impact,” says political commentator, Sumanth Raman, “Nothing has been released from the Centre’s kitty for flood relief, and this makes an impact. It is not about releasing ₹10,000 crore or ₹5,000 crore. It is about releasing at least a token amount to show: ‘Look, we are with you’.”
The DMK holds 38 of the 39 seats across Tamil Nadu, and typically, anti-incumbency would be a big factor. The party, however, says that in Lok Sabha elections, it is the BJP at the Centre which should worry about anti-incumbency, and that Chennai’s three seats will remain with the DMK.
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