Lok Sabha polls | BJP and Congress polarise communities, do not address people’s issues: NTK’s Maria Jennifer

Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha constituency gears up for 2024 elections with new entrant Maria Jennifer Clara Michael from NTK.

The Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha constituency, which has been won by candidates of the DMK, the BJP and the Congress in the last three Parliamentary elections of 2009, 2014, 2019 and the 2021 by-election, is now ready for the upcoming 2024 elections, with a new entrant in the fray: the Naam Tamilar Katchi.

While Pon. Radhakrishnan of the BJP or Vijay Vasanth, son of late Congress veteran H. Vasantha Kumar are seen as prominent faces both in their respective parties and in State politics, this election could be a tough game considering various political events that have taken place in the past few years.  People of Kanniyakumari are now becoming familiar with a new face: the NTK’s 42-year-old Maria Jennifer Clara Michael. 

Ms. Maria Jennifer, who hails from a fishing community will be contesting for the first time in an election. A computer science engineering graduate, she has completed an MBA and has worked for over 15 years in Dubai, and had served as the Gulf region head for Samsung. 

A vocal critic of illegal mining from nature-rich areas of Kanniyakumari, Ms. Maria has, of late, become a recognizable face in the area. She is confident that she can bring about a change in the region by putting an end to the illegal mining in the Western Ghats, the products of which are then transported to nearby Kerala. 

“Though I am called a newcomer, I have, for the past one year stood with the people to oppose illegal mining. The heavyweight parties have been silent about the destruction of our natural resources: I was the only person voicing this issue,” she said. 

With her background, she said, she was aware of the problems faced by the fishermen and their families in the region. “The fishermen, despite knowing that their lives could be in danger, enter the sea for their livelihood. They cannot be given any alternatives: instead they should be provided with an assurance that their lives and boats will be safe. But both the State government and the Central government have remained mute spectators in the issue of T.N. fishermen facing threats at sea,” she said.

Claiming that both other major parties in the fray, the BJP and the Congress, were keen to polarise people based on their religion and communities to attract votes, Ms. Maria said the people of Kanniyakumari had always lived together irrespective of religion, caste and race.