Sivaganga, a high-profile constituency that cries for development

Sivaganga constituency in southern Tamil Nadu draws attention in every election. It is from where P Chidambaram, former Union Finance Minister and Congress leader, has been elected seven times..

With more than 14lakh voters, the constituency comprises six Legislative Assembly segments, and is witnessing a fierce contest between Chidambaram’s son Karti and H Raja of the BJP..

Raja, national secretary of the BJP, is trying his luck from here for the third time, while this is the second election for Karti Chidambaram of the Congress. Both are in search of their maiden victory. In the 1999 Lok Sabha election, Raja came second, polling about 24,000 votes lesser than the winner from the Congress. P Chidambaram, who was then part of Tamil Manila Congress, secured the third position and his votes were less by 95,000 when compared with Raja.

In 2014, the AIADMK, which contested alone, won. The DMK was the runner up. Raja, who came third, secured about 1.34 lakh votes when compared with 1.05 lakh garnered by Karti on behalf of the Congress, which contested without an alliance.

But this time, both Raja and Karti, who are sons of the soil, are part of big alliances on their respective sides.

Sivaganga constituency is facing many issues such as water scarcity, infrastructure development and lack of jobs.

“While rainfall was poor and that has left most of the ponds and water tanks in the district dry, cyclone Gaja caused severe damage in Pudukkottai district. We are facing severe water shortage this time,” says D Selvaraj, a farmer from Arimalam village.

People in several villages near Pudukkottai and Sivaganga blame the political parties and government officials for not doing anything to desilt water bodies in order to improve storage levels. Roads in Karaikudi and Pudukkottai are in poor condition.

Though Karaikudi has Alagappa University, students graduating from the institution have to move to other locations in search of jobs. No industrial project has come to this area despite the availability of barren lands.

While Raja is known for his hardcore Hindutva style of politics, people are disappointed with the performance of P Chidambaram and Karti Chidambaram, for not working adequately for the constituency. But, the big vote banks of Dravidian parties — the AIADMK and the DMK — are a plus for the respective candidates this time. While Raja is blaming Chidambaram for not developing the constituency, Karti preferred to portray the election as a means to remove the ‘fascist’ BJP government.

However, the TTV Dhinakaran-led Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) may play a spoilsport. If AMMK splits the AIADMK votes, it is likely to help the DMK. Also, since the AMMK has roped in Muslim political outfit the Social Democratic Party of India (SDBI), there could be a split in votes of Muslims too, which may cut into Karti’s vote share.

Both Raja and Karti dismiss those arguments and hope for their first victory.

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