Singai vs Singham vs Ganapathi: All eyes on Coimbatore as tough triangular LS battle rages

COIMBATORE: A high-pitched triangular battle is on the cards in the Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency as candidates of the powerful Dravidian parties are fighting it against BJP state unit president K Annamalai.

Stakes are high in the seat as AIADMK has to prove its mettle in their Kongu stronghold, while DMK has to disallow Annamalai to get a foothold in the state, after drubbing him in the Aravakurichi Assembly seat in 2019.

The DMK has fielded ‘Ganapathi’ P Rajkumar, a former Mayor of Coimbatore corporation from 2014 to 2016, who switched loyalty from AIADMK in 2020. The DMK man is one of the few candidates in the state to have a doctorate. He is said to enjoy the support of people.

AIADMK which is in an unenvious position to show that Coimbatore continues to remain its citadel has fielded Singai Ramachandran. All the Assembly seats under the Coimbatore LS constituency–Coimbatore South, Coimbatore North, Kavundampalayam, Singanallur, and Sulur in Coimbatore and Palladam in Tirupur–are in the AIADMK’s kitty.

The 2019 parliamentary polls proved as an exception, with DMK’s ally PR Natarajan of CPM winning with a record margin of over 1.79 lakh votes as against BJP’s CP Radhakrishnan, who secured the second spot with 3,91,505 votes in alliance with AIADMK.

In this battle of prestige, the AIADMK is said to leaving no stone unturned to reclaim its winning streak. Singai’ G Ramachandran (37), son of former MLA ‘Singai’ Govindaraju, would deliver, they believe. He was expelled from the party after he expressed support for O Panneerselvam after the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, however reinstated later on, when EPS took control of the party. He heads the party’s IT wing and is making the maiden poll fray.

“People are struggling due to the pile-up of heavy traffic on all roads as the DMK did not implement any schemes. The GST brought by the BJP and the power tariff hike by DMK has hit the industrial sector hard,” said Singai G Ramachandran.

An ‘outsider’ tag is a challenge Annamalai has to fight against. Making inroads into this urban constituency is considered tough as issues with GST and demonetization have sullied the image of the BJP. Several MSME units shutting down causing thousands to go jobless, is worsening it. The increase in power charges by the DMK has also curtailed the industrial sector.

“Coimbatore has been neglected for long on the infrastructural front. Providing better air connectivity, improving railway stations, restoring stopped trains and starting new services, the impetus for bypass roads are a priority on the development front,” said J Sathish, director of Kongu Global Forum. In particular, he cited the slow pace of expansion works of the Coimbatore International airport.

Despite some setbacks, the BJP seems to enjoy pockets of influence in areas with large migrant settlers, who traditionally root for the saffron party.