Minorities have a say in Dravidian stronghold in multi-cornered fight

CHENNAI: Vellore constituency, which was mired in a controversy in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, is now witnessing a three-cornered contest. With over 15 lakh voters, the constituency, which is home to some of the leading educational institutions, and healthcare facilities as well as the hub for the State’s leather sector, has its share of unresolved issues including pollution, infrastructure shortfalls and water scarcity in some areas.

In 2019, the constituency was in the news for wrong reasons after cash to the tune of Rs 11 crore was seized from the house of DMK candidate Kathir Anand’s close aide. The election for the constituency was rescinded and held three months later. Though Kathir Anand emerged victorious in the polls, he managed to scrape through, winning by a margin of only 8,141 votes against New Justice Party leader, AC Shanmugam, who contested on the AIADMK’s ‘Two-Leaves’ symbol.

Now, Kathir Anand is back in the fray, and along with him is Shanmugam, who is now contesting on the BJP’s lotus symbol. Completing the three-cornered contest is S Pasupathi, fielded by the AIADMK. Considering the prevailing political climate, political observers in the constituency say that Kathir Anand has an edge over the other two candidates though his performance as a Member of Parliament is considered unimpressive.

One of the major factors that could have a direct impact on the voting pattern in the constituency is the Union government’s recent notification to implement Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 ahead of the polls. This is because minorities - Muslims and Christians - constitute one-fourth of Vellore constituency’s electors.

In particular, Ambur, Vaniyambadi, Pernambut and a sizable pocket in Vellore have a high population of Muslims. Minorities consider the Act as being discriminatory on the grounds of religion. Nevertheless, minority voters in the constituency have traditionally voted against the BJP as shown in the previous elections.

For almost two decades, pollution remains one of the biggest concerns for residents. Pernambut is a case study. Che Baskar, an advocate and resident, said glue factories in and around Pernambut have been posing serious health hazards to residents. At times, the factories end up burning leftover materials at night engulfing areas in smoke, causing breathing issues for many, he said.

A Asokan, an activist, said that consecutive governments have failed to take efforts to reverse the ecological damages done to the Palar basin caused by tanneries. Another long-pending demand for residents of Vaniyambadi New Town is a rail over-bridge that remains a non-starter. There is also a long-felt demand for establishing a Kendriya Vidyalaya in Vellore.

Ambur, being home to several micro, small and medium enterprises, has a key issue connected with power tariffs. M Swaminathan, president of the Vellore district MSME association, said that the peak hour power tariff for the units has served as a big blow to the already suffering enterprises. “Nearly 300 small units have already shut down due to high power tariffs. This is one of the major issues that we face,” he said.

ON THE ELECTION FIELD

With campaigning kick-starting in the constituency, friends-turned-foe (AIADMK and BJP) entered into a war of words over the electoral debacle in 2019. AC Shanmugam blamed the AIADMK for losing in the previous election which has spiced up the campaign. Following this, the AIADMK camp stepped up their tirade. Former minister of the party KC Veeramani vowed to show him (AC Shanmugam) his place. Meanwhile, the DMK’s campaign is going full swing to cash in on BJP’s ‘anti-people policies,’ particularly those against minorities.

BJP doesn’t have a party structure to match the Dravidian majors and AC Shanmugam would face a herculean task to keep pace with the key opponents. Also, the AIADMK candidate Pasupathi is an outsider.