Hero Image

Cadres upbeat over Kanyakumari, Virudhunagar Congress candidates

Madurai: The Congress choice of candidates for eight of its nine constituencies in the DMK alliance has evoked mixed response among party cadres and allies. While Nanguneri MLA H Vasantha Kumar’s selection as the Kanyakumari candidate and former MP Manickam Tagore as Virudhunagar candidate has enthused cadres, fielding E V K S Elangovan from Theni has caught many by surprise.

There was also concern over the continuing indecision over the Sivaganga candidate.

Theni comprises Sholavandan and Usilampatti assembly segments in Madurai district. Despite recording successive victories in the first three general elections in 1951, 1957 and 1962, Congress could not establish itself there until Aaron emerged successful. AIADMK was the most successful party here, winning nine times. Sources said the seat had been allocated to Elangovan because he belongs to the Naicker community, which accounts for 40% vote share in the constituency. Kumaresan, a party worker, felt that Elangovan was the right candidate to take on AIADMK’s P Ravindranath Kumar and AMMK’s Thanga Tamil Selvan.

Former Congress functionary and now Theni district president of TMC, Gudalur Selvendran, said that being an outsider would not turn out to be a disadvantage for Elangovan. “Aaron too is a resident of Chennai. He purchased a house in Kombai only when he was elected as MP,” he said.

In Sivaganga, Congress has been successful for nine consecutive terms since the 1980 elections. The winning streak came to an end with AIADMK’s P R Senthilnathan winning the 2014 general elections. Former Union minister and seven-time Sivaganga MP P Chidambaram wants a seat for his son Karti Chidambaram, who came fourth in the 2014 polls with 1,04,678 votes, or his relatives. Karti had trailed BJP’s H Raja too who secured 1,33,763 votes in 2014. Former MP Sudharsana Natchiappan (1999-04) too is believed to have sought the seat for himself or his kin, said party sources. “This is a Congress bastion. Knowing who is in the opposition, we could win the election with any candidate. So there should not be any further delay in announcement,” said a party loyalist.

The mood is one of elation in Virudhunagar over Manickam Tagore’s candidature. Aged just 43 years, the former MP had networked well among cadres when he was the MP from 2004 to 2009. “His victory is assured as he brought many developmental activities to the region as MP during the previous term,’’ said Ravishankar, a party worker from Virudhunagar. In Kanyakumari, though the names of three people have been doing the rounds, Vasanthakumar was determined to settle scores with sitting MP and minister of state for shipping and finance Pon Radhakrishnan who defeated him in 2014. Radhakrishnan secured 3,72,906 votes, which was 1,28,662 more than the 2,44,244 secured by Vasanthakumar. Party cadres said that Vasanthakumar’s chances of victory were bright this time.

READ ON APP