Perennial problem for this DMK bastion is traffic congestion
DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran to cross swords with Vinoj P Selvam of BJP
Traffic snarls have been the perenial issue mainly on Anna Salai, near DMS as seen in the picture from Wednesday
CHENNAI: Unequivocally, one of the most commercialised constituencies in the whole of Tamil Nadu, Chennai Central Lok Sabha constituency is also the administrative and judicial focal point of the State as well as the city. The constituency houses Fort St George (headquarters of the State government), Ripon Building (headquarters of the Greater Chennai Corporation), and the Madras High Court.
Chennai Port, Marina Beach, Chennai Central, and Egmore are other landmarks that the constituency houses.
However, the constituency that covers Villivakkam, Egmore (R), Harbour, Chepauk -- Triplicane, Thousand Lights and Anna Nagar Assembly segments have its own set of issues. While heavy traffic congestion is one of the common problems that the residents face, underground sewer lines that are decades old pose recurrent sewage overflow during rainy days. “Sewage lines were constructed several years ago when the population was lower. Exponential population growth over the years made the sewer lines inadequate for carrying the enormous amount of sewage. Several residential areas require new sewer lines to avoid overflowing and frequent clogging,” M Mohan Raj, a resident of Choolaimedu, said.
He added that several houses have gone below the road level due to decades of relaying roads over the old roads. While the recently mandated milling prevents the roads from going beyond the existing level, houses in several areas are facing flooding during the rains.
“The government should find a funding source to scrap all the existing streets to their original level. Now, house owners are spending several lakhs of rupees to increase the height of their buildings,” he added.
This constituency with a mix of upper-class and middle-class residents, and commercial and residential localities, Chennai Central is one of the bastions of DMK. Murasoli Maran, father of present MP and DMK’s candidate Dayanidhi Maran, held the constituency from 1996 to 2004. In 2004 and 2009 elections, Dayanidhi Maran won the constituency only to lose in 2014. He came back again to win in 2019 by securing 58.2 per cent votes. Sitting MP of DMK Dayanidhi Maran will contest on behalf of INDIA bloc and Vinoj P Selvam of BJP will contest with an NDA ticket. Ex-MLA P Parthasarathy of DMDK will contest on behalf of AIADMK camp.
In 2019, when AIADMK, BJP, DMDK and PMK were a team, the alliance lost to DMK by more than 3 lakh votes. This is also one of the constituencies in the State that continuously records lower voting percentages. In 2019, only 60.7 per cent of voters turned up for polling.
