Known to be a DMK bastion, the three constituencies in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, are expected to see a tough fight in the Lok Sabha election on April 19. In fact, the incumbent DMK candidates’ seats may be under pressure as sections of the angry electorate vow to vote for the BJP as the MPs were not to be seen during the December 2023 floods, especially in Chennai South.
Chennai South is the most high profile, highly literate and prestigious constituency of the state, which was contested by former Chief Minister and DMK founder CN Annadurai, former Union Finance Ministers TT Krishnamachaari and R Venkataraman (who went on to become India's President). Apart from Annadurai, other DMK MPs include former Union Ministers Murosoli Maran and TR Baalu, who won four times from the constituency. Another popular Congress MP from this constituency was yesteryear actor Vaijayantimala Bali, who won consecutively in 1984 and 1989 elections.
Comprising a large section of upper and middle class areas, the IT corridor of Sholinganallur, Brahmin dominated cultural segment of Mylapore, business hub of Thyagaraya Nagar (T Nagar), rich biodiversity regions like Guindy National Park, marshlands/wetlands and forest areas, Chennai South is seeing a three-cornered contest between DMK, BJP and AIADMK.
All the three candidates come from political families. Sitting MP and DMK candidate Tamizhachi Thangapandian (daughter of late party man V Thangapandian) faces a lot of criticism and anger from the electorate for not helping redress problems in the constituency, especially when the southern regions of the city were submerged in flood waters last December. During her campaign, Tamizhachi had to counter heated questions from the public.
Sensing trouble for Tamizhachi, the BJP quickly made the former Telangana Governor and Puducherry Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan (daughter of Congress veteran Kumari Ananthan) resign and contest the South Chennai constituency. Doctor by profession, Tamilisai also served as state BJP chief in 2014 and with a strong campaign, she would give a tough fight to Tamizhachi. She may even win in a close battle if the voters are polarised.
But a strong fight is also forthcoming from the AIADMK candidate and former MP of the constituency, J Jayavardhan (former state minister D Jayakumar's son). Jayavardhan is banking on the ‘good work’ done during his MP tenure 2014-19. This perhaps will come in the way of Tamilisai's success, splitting the anti-DMK votes, thereby giving Tamizhachi a larger share of votes.
In Chennai North too it is a three-cornered contest. Incumbent Kalanidhi Veeraswamy (son of late DMK veteran Arcot N Veeraswamy and a plastic surgeon by profession) will take on R Manohar of AIADMK and RC Paul Kanakraj of BJP. Veeraswamy had won the seat with a whopping 61.85% vote share in 2019 and is banking on his efforts to mitigate the problems in the constituency. Yet, both AIADMK and BJP have raked up the flood mismanagement by the state government in December, as also the dynastic rule and corruption. Kalanidhi can expect a good fight from Manohar (also popular as Royapuram R Mano), a Congressman originally.
Like all other BJP candidates, Kanakraj is riding on “Modi factor” to sail him through. He and Manohar will divide the anti-DMK votes, making it easier for Kalanidhi to get an upper hand in the vote share.
The scene in Chennai Central is, however, different. AIADMK has given the seat to its ally DMDK, contested by B Parthasarathy and considered to be a weak party with hardly much presence. So, it has become easy for the BJP's Vinoj P Selvam to garner the anti-DMK votes, in this DMK stronghold. Selvam is a familiar face, having contested the 2021 Assembly election from the Harbour segment, coming second to DMK’s PK Sekhar Babu, who is a state minister now.
DMK sitting MP and candidate, the high profile Dayanidhi Maran, also a former Union Minister, has a tough task chalked out in this election. He faces the same issue of DMK apathy during the December floods. Assembly segments of Triplicane and Harbour have a sizable number of Brahmin and north Indian population, respectively, whose votes may go to Selvam, adding to the anti-DMK votes. Having garnered 57.36% of the votes in 2019 election, Dayanidhi may see a reduced share even if he takes full advantage of a divided opposition.
The urban areas, especially Chennai, have been the traditional support base of the DMK, which cultivated the organised middle classes. However, migration and the widening of the middle classes and the proliferation of professionals have helped the AIADMK, and more recently, the BJP.
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