Stakes high for MDMK as party scion tests political fortunes in Tiruchi

The MDMK’s quest to reclaim the Tiruchi Lok Sabha seat after two decades by fielding Durai Vaik, has put the spotlight on the constituency this general election.

The MDMK’s quest to reclaim the Tiruchi Lok Sabha seat after two decades by fielding Durai Vaik, 51 — the son of the party’s general secretary Vaiko, — and the party’s insistence on contesting on its own symbol, albeit a new one, has put the spotlight on the constituency this general election.

An intense political battle is brewing in Tiruchi as Mr. Durai Vaiko is pitted in a four-cornered contest against P. Karuppaiah, also a political novice from the AIADMK, P. Senthilnathan, till recently an AMMK councillor, and D. Rajesh, a pro-jallikattu activist of the NTK.

The possibility of a significant split in votes looms large as former Tiruchi Mayor Sarubala R. Tondaiman, of the AMMK, had polled over one lakh votes in the 2019 general election and the NTK’s candidate secured over 65,000 votes. With the MDMK being allotted this seat in the DMK alliance, at the expense of the incumbent Congress MP Su. Thirunavukkarasar, there is a lot of pressure on Mr. Durai Vaiko. The loss of the party’s ‘top’ symbol and its refusal to be persuaded to contest on the DMK’s ‘Rising Sun’ symbol had raised the prospect of possible strain in relations between the cadre of the two parties on the field. Mr. Durai Vaiko, however, has been dismissive of such apprehensions and does not foresee any problem in working together with the DMK, and other allies, in popularising the new ‘matchbox’ symbol among voters in the age of social media.

He will also have to contend with the ‘outsider tag’, though the electorate in Tiruchi has repeatedly returned candidates hailing from other parts of the State. His opponents, especially Mr. Senthilnathan, has been playing up the ‘outsider card’ and touts his familiarity with the issues of the constituency as one of his strong points. Mr. Karuppaiah, 40, a contractor from Gandharvakottai in the neighbouring Pudukotai district, is no stranger to the constituency either.

The constituency straddles urban pockets and an agriculture belt from the Cauvery delta on the one side to the largely dry and rain-fed tracts of Pudukottai district on the other. It has an eclectic mix of castes and communities, and returned candidates of Congress and the Left parties between 1957 and 1996, barring 1980 when N. Selvaraj of the DMK won.

Late Rangarajan Kumaramangalam breathed life into the BJP here by winning two successive elections in 1998 and 1999 [in alliance with the AIADMK and the DMK respectively], putting an end to Congress strongman L. Adaikalaraj’s winning streak in four elections from 1984. The AIADMK won the 2001 byelection, only to lose the seat to the MDMK in 2004. The AIADMK reclaimed the seat in 2009 and managed to retain it in 2014, before the Congress made a comeback in 2019.

Despite its advantages of being an education hub and a strategic location, Tiruchi is widely seen to have fallen behind other tier-II cities in infrastructure development. “It is high time the infrastructural limitations here are addressed. We need a capable MP who can address some of the projects and proposals that have been hanging fire for long,” said H. Ghouse Baig, a consumer activist.