BJP’s candidate for South Chennai, Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan, has said that she was “totally against” the ‘Dravidian model’, stressing that instead of the monthly ₹1,000 that the Tamil Nadu government is giving women, she would like to enable the women to earn “thousands of rupees every day.” 

Likewise, instead of free bus passes to women, the women should be owning buses — must become entrepreneurs, Soundararajan said in an interaction with journalists of The Hindu group of publications.

Soundararajan, a medical doctor who recently resigned her posts as the Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, stressed that she was not asked to resign. The decision to resign the gubernatorial positions and contest the LS elections was her own. “I have always wanted to be with the people,” she said, giving several instances to illustrate her “administrative capacity” when she was the Governor of Telangana and Puducherry. 

She said the “Dravidian mindset” had come down in Tamil Nadu, and the BJP would increase its vote share and “definitely win many seats.” 

Soundararajan, whose father, (Kumari Anandan) is a long-time Congressman, said that on several occasions in her life, she faced situations where she had to give up something good she had, to do what she wished to do. Joining the BJP was one such decision, she said, adding that in 1999, BJP leader Vajpayee’s development pitch appealed to her. Likewise, she decided to come back into electoral politics when she could have continued to enjoy a cushy life as Governor of Telangana and Puducherry. 

Soundararajan, who said she was confident of getting elected, said that her biggest challenge was the practice of her opponents to bribe voters with money. She said that in South Chennai, the voting rate was typically 55 per cent. Her counter to the practice of bribing would be to get more people to come out and vote, as most of those who stay indoors are typically not influenced by money. 

South Chennai has a population of 20 lakh people, about 15 per cent of whom are Vanniyars, (whose party, PMK, is an ally of BJP). About 10 per cent are Brahmins, who typically vote for BJP. SC/ST, Mudaliars, Nadars, and Mukkulathor are the other predominant communities. South Chennai has been a ‘star’ constituency, where big names have contested — former Union finance minister, TT Krishnamachari, former TN chief minister, Annadurai, former President of India, S Venkataraman, Bollywood actor Vaijayanthimala Bali, and ministers (late) Murasoli Maran and TR Baalu. 

Soundararajan will face opposition from Tamilachi Thangapandian of DMK, who is the incumbent MP from the constituency and Dr J Jayavardhan of AIADMK. Thus, all the three have the honorific, “Dr”, because Thangapandian has a doctorate in English literature and Jayavardhan, who is 36, is a medical doctor. Thangapandian is the daughter of a DMK leader, and her brother is TN finance minister Thangam Thennarasu. Jayavardhan’s father, D Jayakumar, is a former AIADMK MLA and the state’s fisheries minister. Jayavardhan has the distinction of being the youngest MP in India, when he was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014. He was 26 then.

Soundararajan said her pitch to her constituency would be, “The other two have been MPs before, but their performance has not been good. Give me a chance, I will work hard for you.” 

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