Dominated by Tiruchy heavyweights, Perambalur seeks agri, rail infra

TIRUCHY: An under-developed Perambalur Lok Sabha constituency is yet to gain a character of its own as the seat contains many Assembly segments from the neighbouring Tiruchy, from which the district was carved out on November 1, 1995.

Bordered by Cuddalore in the north, Tiruchy in the south, Ariyalur in the east and Namakkal in the west, the constituency is a water-starved region, lagging on the infrastructural front too. Rail connectivity is a long pending poll demand, yet to see the light of the day. Widening of Perambalur-Namakkal highways via Tiruchy is one other key demand of the electorate, who see that developmental works would lead to better economic growth.

Shallot farmers in this locality have been demanding value-added products for their produce to increase their income. “Since small onion is the major crop in this district, the Union government should derive plans for export of shallots from Perambalur as the price of the crop keep dwindling,” says P Varatharajan, a shallots farmer from Naranamangalam in Perambalur. He said that the shallots farmers are practicing the traditional way of storing shallots. They make ‘Pattarai’ to keep the onion safely on the field itself till they get a reasonable price for the crop. However, if the crop has been stored in the traditional method, they might not be used for domestic consumption and could be stored for seeding purposes only, he said. Varatharajan appealed to the political parties to put an end to their ordeal and get proper storage facilities and reasonable prices.

The Lok Sabha constituency covers Assembly segments of Karur (Kulithalai) and Tiruchy (Lalgudi, Mannachanallur, Musiri and Thuraiyur) districts, making it a diverse political landscape. Better-developed Assembly segments from Tiruchy revenue districts thus play a key role in the outcome of the elections, pushing some of the pressing issues of a dry Perambalur district to the back burner. The face value of the candidate having a close association with Tiruchy still plays an important role in the polls here. For instance, out of the total of 13.24 lakh electorate, 8.40 lakh voters (63.44 percent) are from Tiruchy.

Sitting MP TR Paarivendhar, founder of IJK, who won in the DMK’s rising sun symbol in 2019, has now switched camp and is contesting in BJP’s lotus symbol. DMK has fielded Arun Nehru, son of party strongman KN Nehru. AIADMK has fielded ND Chandra Mohan and NTK has nominated R Thenmozhi.

All through these years, DMK has won six times here while AIADMK won five times, Congress won twice and CPI once. As almost all the Assembly segments are dominated by farmers, the candidates are expected to gain the confidence of agrarian voters.

While Perambalur tops in shallots production catering to 35 per cent of the total cultivation in the state, Kulithalai tops in banana cultivation Lalgudi, Manachanallur and Musiri dominate with paddy cultivation. Thuraiyur is known for tropical crops.

Though there are fewer possibilities for industrial growth, the recently inaugurated non-leather footwear park has generated employment for around 5,000 people, especially women.

The voters here are upset that no candidate stood by their promise. “So much so that voters are very particular this time are seeking a sworn assurance from the candidates on promises made. The discontent rises from the fact that the sitting MP had promised rail connectivity in the previous elections and won with a huge margin of 4.03 lakh, but wasn’t able to deliver despite he being perceived close to the ruling BJP at the Centre,” said S Murugesan, a septuagenarian from Perambalur.

Despite having a varied cultivation of onion, maize, paddy, groundnut, sugarcane and millet, the water-deficit nature of agriculture puts people under tremendous pressure. Farmers demand irrigation and agri storage projects that could help tide over this crisis.