Rahul Gandhi Visiting Coimbatore

All India General Secretary of the Congress Rahul Gandhi will visit Coimbatore on September 10 (Thursday). Talking to reporters, TNCC President K. V. Thangkabalu on Monday said Mr. Gandhi will arrive Coimbatore by 3 p.m. and address a public meeting at Gandhipuram exhibition grounds. Later, he will address the youth Congress members of neighbouring districts and interact with young entrepreneurs. The venue for these meetings would be finalised on Tuesday. Special Protection Group officials along with the Coimbatore Police have already begun Advance Security Liaison.

Mr. Gandhi’s visit to Tamil Nadu will strengthen Congress and its youth wing, party leader E.V.K.S. Elangovan has said. Talking to reporters here on Monday, he said the three-day visit was aimed at attracting youth, who stayed out of politics with the impression it was bad.

Mr. Elangovan said that during the visit Mr. Gandhi would also meet students and experts in various fields. It was also aimed at improving political culture in State, Mr. Elangovan said and explained that it was only in Tamil Nadu that political rivals did not meet, talk or even exchange pleasantries. He added that Mr. Gandhi’s visit was also aimed at repeating his Uttar Pradesh and Bihar feat, where the party’s Lok Sabha tally increased from 11 to 26 after he took up the task of meeting youths.

Deputy CM @ Coimbatore For Election Campagin

Deputy Chief Minister M.K.Stalin campaigning for M.N.Kandasamy (to his right), the Congress candidate for Thondamuthur constituency, at Ganapathy in Coimbatore on Wednesday. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Government has covered 85 per cent of the beneficiaries of the free colour television scheme and this proves that the party is keeping the promises it made to the voters in the last Assembly elections, Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said here on Wednesday.

Beginning his two-day campaign for Congress candidate for Thondamuthur Assembly Constituency M.N. Kandaswamy, Mr. Stalin explained how the government went about the task of procuring colour televisions and handing over these to the beneficiaries. In 2006 in the first phase, 30,000 televisions were given to poor families in Samathuvapurams. In the second phase, 25 lakh sets were distributed at the rate of 10,000 in each MLA’s constituency.

This was followed by another 32 lakh sets. The government had procured another 42 lakh sets, but the distribution had been held up by the Lok Sabha elections and now by the by-elections (to five Assembly constituencies). When some of the voters at Gandhimanagar said they had not got the sets yet, Mr. Stalin said this scheme was not like others.

It involved an elaborate, time-consuming process that included the invitation of bids and their processing. That was why the sets were being distributed in phases. This scheme and the others such as rice at Re.1 a kg had earned the government the faith of the people. Now, they must vote for the candidates of the DMK-led front to strengthen it further.

From villages to cities across the State, the government was focussed on providing basic amenities and infrastructure development. This was evident in the allocations already made for development works to various local bodies. Parties such as the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam were alleging manipulation of electronic voting machines only to avoid contesting in the by-elections. The fear of defeat was the actual reason. “The nation will reject those who boycott elections,” he said.

KMP asks CM to lift ban on toddy ...

The Kongunadu Munnetra Peravai on Tuesday appealed to Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to lift the ban on toddy tapping in Tamil Nadu by passing legislation immediately.At a press meet, KMP general secretary E R Eswaran said the time had come for the State to allow toddy tapping as it would become a major poll issue in the 2011 Assembly elections.He said the fledgling Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam, which contested 12 Lok Sabha seats on its own in the Kongu region, secured six lakh votes and proved its strength politically to the DMK and AIADMK fronts.

According to Eswaran, who contested from Coimbatore, his party had pushed the DMDK to the fourth position in all seats of the region and he himself had secured 1.28 lakh votes.The KMP would be ready to back any political party that showed interest in lifting the ban on toddy tapping and worked for the welfare of the lakhs of farmers in the State.Easwaran said his party had targeted the Congress in the polls for its stand against toddy tapping and the result was there for everyone to see - defeat of the party’s candidates in the Kongu region.He added peravai members would meet the CM soon and demand that the ban on toddy tapping be lifted as per his poll promise. He hoped the CM would initiate action as soon as he returned to TN from Delhi.

Tamil Nadu Farmers Association has said that the farmers will continue to tap toddy and face the police action legally. In a statement issued in Coimbatore on Tuesday, Association president Vazhukkuparai Balu and secretary P Kandasamy requested the police not to prevent the farmers from tapping toddy till CM took a decision on it. They pointed out that Karunanidhi and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi had assured to consider permitting toddy tapping during the election campaign. Meanwhile, DIG M Ramasubramanian in Erode has warned that take stringent action would be against all those indulging in illegal toddy tapping in the region. He told reporters on Tuesday that “Our silence during election should not be misinterpreted as licence to indulge in an illegal act.”

DMK stunned by it defeat !!

Stunned by the defeat in the Lok Sabha elections in the Coimbatore region, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam seems set to go into the reasons for the front’s poor show since the 2006 Assembly elections.Party sources indicate that Coimbatore is turning out to be an unfriendly turf. In both Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, the DMK front lost to the alliance led by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

Serial blasts

The DMK’s woes in Coimbatore began in 1998, when its candidate lost the Lok Sabha elections soon after the serial blasts here in February that year.The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won by a large margin. The BJP won the seat again in the mid-term elections next year, defeating candidates of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Tamil Maanila Congress. In the 2001 Assembly elections, the AIADMK front won all the 14 seats in Coimbatore.

Relief came in the form of wins in the Coimbatore and Pollachi constituencies in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections that saw a sweep in favour of the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance.But, the 2006 Assembly elections proved disastrous for the DMK in Coimbatore, and became one of the reasons that denied an outright majority for the party. Of the 14 seats, the DMK front won only three. Of these, the DMK won only one (Coimbatore East), while the other two – Valparai and Tirupur – were won by the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Stronghold

This led to the view that Coimbatore was turning into an AIADMK stronghold. What followed was a desperate effort to win the Coimbatore Corporation elections. Of the 72 wards, the DMK won 29. The Congress and the CPI (M) won eight each and the CPI, four. Now, the CPI and the CPI (M) are with the AIADMK that won 10 wards.The 2006 local body elections may well have been the most closely fought since 1996 as the DMK had a lot at stake after the Assembly poll rout.

Now, the 2009 Lok Sabha elections have virtually brought back the 2006 situation. While the rest of the State has given a good mandate to the DMK front, it lost out to the AIADMK alliance in Coimbatore district. While the Pollachi seat was won by the AIADMK. Its ally, CPI (M) won Coimbatore, defeating the Congress. The newly formed Tirupur seat (carved out of Coimbatore) was also won by the AIADMK.

Delay blamed

Sources in the DMK blame the latest debacle on the delay in the campaign taking off. By the time Congress candidate and former Union Minister R.Prabhu began his campaign, CPI (M) candidate P.R.Natarjan had capitalised on a good headstart.Congress sources attribute this to the delay in the party leadership announcing the candidates for some seats, including Coimbatore.This left the DMK and the Congress with very little time for campaign. DMK sources point out that by then Mr. Natarajan and his campaign teams had strongly campaigned against Mr.Prabhu, repeatedly calling him a person inaccessible for the common man.

Mr. Prabhu countered this campaign saying he has always been accessible. A faction in the Congress is also believed to have worked against him.The sources, however, point out that Mr.Prabhu polled 18,000 votes less than Mr. Natarajan in the Kavundampalayam Assembly segment where he was expected to poll more.The sources feel that by cutting into both fronts’ vote share, the newly formed Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam made things tough for Mr.Natarajan and disastrous for Mr.Prabhu.

Why did Congress lose in Kongu region ..?

The Lok Sabha election results proved right the projections made earlier that all the four DMK-front Congress candidates in the Kongu region — K V Thangkabalu (Salem), R Prabhu (Coimbatore), S K Karvendan (Tirupur) and E V K S Elangovan (Erode) — would be voted out.There have been several factors, including faction feuds and Eelam issue, which led to the downfall of Congress in the region.However, the newly formed Kongu Nadu Munnetra Peravai (KNMP) that made its debut here played the community card by garnering sizeable votes.While change of constituencies by Congress candidates Elangovan, Prabhu and Karvendan has been attributed as the main cause of their defeat, in the case of Elangovan, film director Bharathiraja’s campaign against him is said to have helped Ganesamurthy.

In Erode, MDMK candidate Ganesamurthy defeated Elangovan by a margin of over 49,000 votes.Ganesamurthy was said to have won the sympathy of since

since he was arrested under POTA and jailed for over 500 days for the Lankan Tamil cause. Moreover, Elangovan as Gobichettipalayam MP failed to do help the textile sector.Karvendan, who lost to AIADMK candidate C Sivasamy contesting in Tirupur, was an outsider but as Palani MP he had the uni que distinction of raising over 1,000 questions in Parliament. Sivasamy won the hearts of the electorate for his good work as an MLA. He won by a margin of over 85,000 votes.

Prabhu, who was a fivetime MP in Nilgiris, had to switch his constituency to his hometown Coimbatore after Nilgiris became a reserve constituency.Factionalism in party played spoilsport for him with Vasan camp members distancing themselves from Prabhu.CPM candidate P R Natarajan defeated Prabhu by a margin of over 35,000 votes.Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) chief K V Thangkabalu, a sitting MP from Salem, failed to retain his seat due to factionalism in the party, the Sri Lakan issue and the toddy tapping issue.Former AIADMK minister Semmalai wrested the seat with a margin of over 46,000 votes.In Nilgiris, the KNMP candidate S Bhadiran garnered 32,779 votes while in Namakkal the KNMP candidate R Devaraj scored 52,433 votes.Undoubtedly, KNMP made its impact felt during this polls.

Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhgam Going To Contest 70 Constituencies

The Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhgam will contest in 60 to 70 constituencies in the 2011 Assembly elections, party president ‘Best’ S. Ramaswamy and general secretary E.R. Easwaran told presspersons here on Sunday. The aim was to win at least 25 seats.

Mr. Easwaran said the party had done well in its first elections and that too going it alone.Contending that the party would make a viable ally for others in the next elections, he said the KMK would pursue its agenda for the Kongu region’s development. The party would meet Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on its demand that toddy tapping be allowed, he said.

AIADMK Sweeps Tirupur

Chellappa Sivasami of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has walked into the annals of history by becoming the first candidate to get elected from the newly-constituted Tirupur Lok Sabha constituency on Saturday by defeating his nearest rival Salarapatty Kuppusamy Kharventhan of Indian National Congress by a margin of 85,346 votes.

While Mr. Sivasami got 2,95,731 votes of the total 7,41,714 votes cast (which includes postal ballot) in the elections, Mr. Kharventhan received 2,10,385 votes. K. Balasubramanian of Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam, a newly-born party, finished a surprise third with 95,299 votes polled in favour of him. Though highly tipped to finish third, N. Dinesh Kumar of Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam could get only the fourth spot with a tally of 86,933 votes.The only woman candidate out of the 21 contestants in the fray, P. Malarvizhi (Independent) got only 1,171 out of the total polled votes. Soon after the counting commenced at Gobichettipalayam Arts and Science College on Saturday, Mr. Sivasami shot into lead from where he never looked back.

At the end of the first round, Mr. Sivasami was ahead of Mr. Kharventhan by 4,302 votes. He constantly extended the lead to about 50,000 by the end of the ninth round.By 14th round, the lead of Mr. Sivasami was widened to 76,906.Mr. Kharventhan got more votes than Mr. Sivasamy only in Gobichettipalayam Assembly segment.

Postal ballots

Of the total 1,155 postal votes polled in this election, Mr. Kharventhan got 690, Mr. Sivasami got 70, K. Balasubramanian (KMK) got 81, M. Sivakumar (BJP) got five, R. Pandian and A.. Karthikkeyean (both independents) got two each and the rest were invalid.

Meanwhile, the number of voters who had exercised the option available under Rule 49 (O) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, which entitles voters to register their refusal to votes, was 130.

AIADMK wins Pollachi Lok Sabha seat

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) candidate K. Sugumar was declared elected from the Pollachi Lok Sabha Constituency on Saturday. Mr. Sugumar won by a margin of 46,025 votes.

He had polled 3,05,935 votes as against his nearest Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) rival K. Shanmugasundaram who had polled 2,59,910 votes. Of the 10.13 lakh voters,Pollachi recorded 75.81 per cent polling i.e., a total of 7,71,831 votes were polled of which 352 votes were rejected.Of the total of 2,528 postal votes, 1,863 went in favour of DMK while AIADMK polled 109 votes. 170 postal votes went in favour of Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam (KMK) candidate, Best S. Ramasamy.

A total of 22 candidates were in the fray in Pollachi Lok Sabha seat.The recently floated KMK candidate had polled 1,03,004 votes pushing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), candidate V.S. Baba Ramesh to the fifth place while K.P. Thangavel of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMDK) finished fourth. BJP candidate had polled, 16,815 votes while DMDK candidate K.P. Thangavel had polled 38,824 votes.

Right from the first round of counting, the AIADMK candidate maintained a clear margin steering him to victory. The counting of votes took place at the PA College of Engineering, Pollachi.

CPM Wins in coimbatore !

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) won the Coimbatore Lok Sabha Constituency, with its candidate P.R. Natarajan defeating five-time Congress MP R. Prabhu by a margin of 38,664 votes. Effectively, the Left retained the seat as the Communist Party of India’s K. Subbarayan won in the 2004 elections.

Individually, the CPI (M) has won the seat for the second time after the win by K. Ramani in 1967. Mr. Natarajan is the son-in-law of the late Ramani and district secretary of the party. The 2009 elections saw Mr. Natarjan contesting for the second time. He contested in 1996, but finished third after the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s M. Ramanathan and Congress’ C.K. Kuppuswamy.

This time, Mr. Natarajan polled 2,93,165 votes, out of the 8,24,047 valid votes (including 1,481 valid postal votes), while Mr. Prabhu’s tally was 2,54,501. E.R. Easwaran of the Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam came third with 1,28,070 votes. Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam’s R. Pandian had 73,188 votes at the end of the 17th and final round of counting. G.K.S. Selvakumar of the Bharatiya Janata Party and K. Ramasubramanian of the Bahujan Samaj Party polled 37,909 votes and 2,937 votes respectively. Mr. Natarajan took the lead in the first round itself and sustained it between 1,000 and 2,000 votes in each round. Only in third round Mr. Prabhu managed 937 votes more than the CPI (M) candidate. But, Mr. Nataraj overtook him with a nearly 1,500 vote margin in the next round and sustained it. Prior to the elections, Mr. Natarajan told The Hindu that the carving out of Tirupur as a separate district and a Lok Sabha Constituency would not hamper his prospects though a large workforce was in this area. He said Coimbatore North and Kavundampalayam would more than compensate for this.

Though not a major difference, Mr. Natarjan polled about 16,000 votes more than Mr. Prabhu in Kavundampalayam and 6,500 votes more in Coimbatore North. The CPI (M) candidate got 8,000-odd votes more than the Congressman in Palladam, where Mr. Easwaran overtook Mr. Prabhu (30,533) by polling 36,558 votes.

Mr. Natarajan told presspersons at the counting centre at the Government College of Technology that his win was proof of the faith the voters had in the alliance led by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam. “My win here reveals the resentment against the Government and people’s faith in me has won over money power.”

On what his priorities were, he said: “I will work for development in Coimbatore. As I said earlier, priority is for the uplift of the urban poor.”On whether he would be at a disadvantage in pushing schemes for Coimbatore if he were to be in the Opposition, Mr. Natarajan said: “Members of Parliament should coordinate with MLAs and the local bodies on development schemes. As an MP, I will do that. I hope the others will not politicise development. But, if they do, I will expose this before the people.”

Is metro rail possible ??

In the race for getting popular with the city’s development-starved population, parties contesting from the Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency have promised grandiose schemes to raise the stature of the city to that of Chennai and Bangalore. One of the schemes is the metro rail project, on the lines of what is being planned for Chennai. Candidates of the parties have cited the region’s international-level reputation as an industrial, educational and healthcare hub to tell that the people that it does not deserve anything less than what Chennai has or will have. Almost all the six major parties contesting from here have been making promises on these lines.

The Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam even had a sketch of a metro rail on the banners it displayed at its recent public meeting.Quoting consultants on the mission, sources in the Coimbatore Corporation point out that a metro rail, especially the tunnel network, is not feasible as the city is not linear like Mumbai.

On the other hand, Coimbatore is a radial city and therefore suitable for a circular rail network. After exploring various options including skybus, the civic body has decided to have a bus network on dedicated tracks, a source says. Strangely, even members of the parties who have taken part in meetings of the Corporation on these proposals have been unable to resist the temptation of joining those making the promise of a metro rail system.

Will KNMK create ripples in this election ?

It is just four months old, but the Kongu Nadu Muneetra Kazhagam (KNMK) is giving the mainstream political parties anxious moments in the fight for the high-profile Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency in Tamil Nadu.The new sub-regional political party claims to represent the interests of the people dwelling in the north-west region of the state spanning 10 districts. The KNMK has mobilised enough resources and built an army of committed cadres to give a run for their money to the main contenders - R. Prabhu of the Congress and P.R. Natarajan of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

Queering the pitch for Prabhu and Natarajan, who are locked in a proxy contest for the state's arch rival fronts led by the ruling DMK and the opposition AIADMK, are the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and DMDK of Tamil cine star Vijayakanth - which is likely to further spilt the votes and damage their winning prospects.

"We are contesting from 12 parliamentary constituencies in this region for all-round development and to safeguard the interests of our backward communities, which have been taken for granted by the two leading fronts over the last three decades," asserted KNMK founder-president E.R. Eswaran, who is in the fray from Coimbatore for the first time.

Though Prabhu and Natarajan dismiss the KNMK as yet another sub-regional outfit playing spoilsport, the huge public response Eswaran got during the fortnight-long campaign across the constituency, especially in semi-urban rural areas, has set alarm bells ringing in the DMK and AIADMK camps.

The party represents the dominant Kongu Vellala Gounder community, which accounts for about 40 percent of the 1.1-million electorate in this constituency."For the DMK and AIADMK, only Chennai matters. Coimbatore and Kongunadu, which contributes about 40 percent of the revenue to the state exchequer, are not a priority for them to develop the region or modernise rural infrastructure to check migration and improve the quality of life in the countryside," Eswaran lamented.

The scorching pace of economic growth across this industrial-cum-farm region over the last decade-and-half has led to steady migration of people and jobs from rural areas to towns and cities like Kovai (Coimbatore), Tirupur, Erode, Salem, Pollachi and Namakal."This one-way movement has led to the neglect of villages and choking of cities like Coimbatore, which is the second largest city in the state after Chennai," pointed out Mahendra Ramdas, president of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore chapter.

Failure of successive governments in keeping the infrastructure development pace along with economic or urban growth is causing a digital divide and social tensions due to mismatch of resources."We have prepared a 10-point 'Mission Kovai Vision' with citizens groups for rapid expansion of the city and modernisation of its infrastructure to prevent Coimbatore becoming another Bangalore, which has been hit by crumbling infrastructure and chaotic traffic," Ramdas noted.

Endorsing the industry viewpoint, Eswaran said his party had a 20-point agenda for the development of not just Coimbatore but also other cities, towns and villages across the region to ensure uniform growth."We have realised that we need to be politically empowered to fight for our development needs. It's time for sub-regional parties like KNMK to emerge and fight for their region and its people," Eswaran said.

In spite of shifting from the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) to the AIADMK in the run-up to the polls, Natarajan is wary of anti-incumbency affecting his chances due to people's anger over chronic power crisis, acute drinking water shortage, economic slump, price rise and job losses in the 'Manchester of South India.'

"It is the DMK and the Congress that will pay a heavy price for having betrayed the people's mandate in 2004 and 2006 (to the state assembly). I also do not see KNMK impacting my prospects as it lacks organisational structure and cadres to woo the electorate to vote for Eswaran from every polling station or booth across the constituency," Natarajan averred.

Though K. Subbarayan of the Communist Party of India (CPI) won the Coimbatore seat in the 2004 elections as part of the DPA, the opposition of the Left parties to the Indo-US civil nuclear pact and economic or market reforms are working against Natarajan, as evident from the discomfort of even the supporting AIADMK cadres and its committed voters.

Though sailing in the same boat, Prabhu, contesting from Coimbatore for the first time after the adjacent Nilgiris constituency, which he represented five times has been declared reserved, remains unfazed by the challenge posed by the KNMK or the formidable AIADMK alliance backing Natarajan. He thinks his record performance and contribution over the last three decades would hold him in good stead.

In this multi-cornered contest that has 25 candidates in the fray, the voting pattern and percentage across the constituency's six assembly segments will determine the outcome and whether Prabhu will be lucky for the sixth time.

1,500 Policemen Took Out Flag March in Coimbatore

With a view to ensure free and fair polling during the fifth and last phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 13, over 1,500 policemen took out a flag march in Coimbatore. The flag march was conducted to infuse confidence among voters that adequate security measures are in force to ensure a peaceful casting of votes. Police contingents drawn from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala participated in the four kilometers march led by the city police commissioner.

"Over 1,500 policemen held a flag march and we are happy to see this march. We hope we can now vote in the election without any fear," said Murugan, a resident. All 39 parliamentary constituencies in Tamil Nadu will go to polls on Wednesday. So far, elections have been completed to 457 seats since the exercise began on April 16. On May 7, the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections held for 85 constituencies spread across seven States had witnessed 57 per cent voting of the total 9.46 crore eligible votes. The first, second and third phases of polling were held on April 16, 23 and 30 respectively. The counting of votes will take place on May 16. The 543-member House will be constituted before June 2.

Surprise Political Release “K" Factor By KMP

Coconut groves line shady roads, paddy and cotton fields sway at the foot of rolling hills and soothing breeze caresses the Pollachi landscape. Welcome to film industry’s dream land, the picturesque Pollachi, which has seen Shahrukh Khan too run around its balmy, coconut trees. And for this election, the Konguland, Kollywood’s hot shooting locale, has served up a surprise political release — the “K Factor.”

In a complex election scenario, full of cliffhanger contests, a new political outfit, Kongunadu Munnetra Peravai, (KMP) has emerged with the hope of mobilizing the Kongu Vellala Gounder community, a dominant votebank in western Tamil Nadu. Launched on December 15 by Gounder industrialists in the region, the KMP has now injected an intriguing “K’ factor into the poll calculations in the Kongu land, a traditional bastion of the AIADMK. The KMP has fielded candidates in 12 constituencies and clearly, its campaign vehicles carrying the “gas cylinder” symbol are the most visible in the rural nooks of Tamil Nadu. However, it is in the de-reserved constituency of Pollachi, the KMP is making big march.

While in the rest of the constituencies in the western region, the KMP will merely play nominal party spoiler, in Pollachi, the party’s leader, Best Ramasamy, a textile mill owner and managing director of Best Group of Companies, is threatening to upset traditional votebank calculations. In Pollachi, Udumalpet and Kinathukadavu falling within the now de-reserved Pollachi constituency, the KMP’s green, yellow and red-coloured flags flutter briskly alongside that of the AIADMK and the DMK. The May Day conference organised by the KMP in Coimbatore drew big crowds and even larger than the rallies of the main parties in Tamil Nadu. In Pollachi, when party chief Best Ramasamy filed his papers too, huge crowds cheered him.

The KMP, much like the Pattali Makkal Katchi which has consolidated the Vanniyar votebank in northern Tamil Nadu, is frenetically campaigning to garner the Gounder community votes, with the key campaign theme of “rights to tap toddy, scrapping of pro-Dalit Protection of Civil Rights Act and continued neglect of Kongu land by successive governments”. Says Best Ramasamy, “The western region contributes about 40% of tax revenue to the State. But what has the State government done to improve the infrastructure in Coimbatore, Pollachi and Udumalpet? We are fighting for the uplift of the region, not for a particular community”. Before taking the political plunge, the KMP leaders met DMK president and chief minister M Karunanidhi and AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa. As the two parties offered them no seats, the KMP decided to enter the fray on its own.

However, political observers say the KMP had been “planted” by the ruling DMK to cut into the Gounder votebank of the AIADMK. The DMK-Congress alliance candidates are also pinning their hopes on the KMP’s inroads. “We are not here to eat into any party’s votebank. We have decided to contest elections only to show our strength.” In coconut land of Pollachi, the KMP has turned its fight for tapping toddy from coconuts and palm trees into a poll issue. For farmers say they will get additional income from toddy sales, while the drinkers will get a healthy brew at a cheap price. And so, the KMP’s battle cry for toddy has struck a chord with farmers and the tippler men.

SHG Turns As PHG

Want crowds at political rallies? Want voters at the polling booths? Dial the PHGs (Political Help Groups). Come elections, and a considerable number of the women self help groups (SHGs) take on political colours and transform into PHGs in Tamil Nadu. Ever since SHGs were launched during the Jayalalithaa regime in the 1990s, the empowered women members have been perceived as strong votebanks. Between the DMK and AIADMK regimes since the 1990s, SHGs have grown manifold, expanded and evolved into “powerful voices” in their villages. The present DMK regime has painstakingly nurtured SHGs with generous contributions towards revolving funds under the shrewd stewardship of local administration minister MK Stalin.

Election-time is when political parties try to harvest their careful tending of the SHGs. “If political parties need crowds, they call the SHG leaders and pay Rs 100 per head to hire the crowds,” says Congress MLA, C Gnanasekaran. “However, there is no guarantee they will vote for the party which pays them,” he adds. Besides, poll gifts, especially favourites like saris and stainless steel vessels, contributions to village temples are routed through SHG leaders in some places on the eve of the elections. Concerned over the possible exploitation of the over 60 lakh SHG members in Tamil Nadu, the Election Commission has directed district collectors to monitor the flow of funds into their bank accounts and their “political” activities. Now, the district collectors have asked the SHGs to keep off political rallies.

The firm fiat has put fear into a section of SHGs who are wary of getting “politically branded.” P Sumathi, secretary of Rights Trust, based in Omalur near Salem, which has formed 150 SHGs, says, “Though there are invitations, we never identify with any political parties.” Karunanidhi formally launched the first of the SHG in Dharmapuri in 1989, when he was chief minister, to help women in the backward district overcome extreme poverty through savings and reinvestment. But it was Jayalalithaa during her second term as chief minister, who gave SHGs the much needed financial boost to make them grow into a movement through the Central and state sponsored Swarnajayanthi Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY).

“During every election, the local representatives of major political parties approach SHG leaders with a slew of promises and urge us to campaign for their party. There are several instances during which SHGs concede to their requests following assurances of huge loans for launching self-employment ventures,” says an SHG leader in Villupuram district. Dhanalakshmi, an SHG member in Madurai said that “things were not the same” as they were during the recent Thirumangalam by-election. “In the bypolls, we all got gifts of sarees and cash for canvassing. This time, we are still waiting,’’ she said. With the hawk-eyed poll observers doing the rounds in the southern districts, instances of SHGs being wooed have been far less. Gowri of Rajarajeswari SHG in Virudhunagar says parties have canvassed for votes among the groups. In the districts, the officials have a different view.

In Villupuram, the bureaucracy admitted that SHGs were canvassing for votes for the ruling party in this election. “Campaigning by a leader of an SHG among the members and their family has a great impact,’’ says a senior official involved in the SHG movement. “During the previous general elections the parties made a point to take us to all political meetings. Of course, some of the local functionaries visited our houses seeking votes, but that was during their usual campaign trip,’’ says Valarmathi Marthandan, animator of Udhaya Nila SHG at Thurayur in Tiruchi district. She recalls how the DMK and AIADMK clamoured with each other during the previous elections to woo the SHG women.

From HR to politics

The Virudhunagar Lok Sabha constituency, created after restructuring the earlier Sivakasi seat, was in the news well before the candidature of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko was announced. This was because of the entry of K. Pandia Rajan as the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam’s nominee.

Mr. Pandia Rajan, better known as “Ma Foi” Pandia Rajan after his human resources company, is a man who wants to attack the problem of unemployment. “One job per family,” is his election mantra.Establishment of a technical university, opening of career centres in all the six Assembly segments to train youth and impart employment skills, conducting periodic job fairs and forming technology-based support centres for local entrepreneurs are integral to his plans of tackling unemployment in Virudhunagar.

His policy, if implemented, would ensure that there is at least one earning member in every family.Sixty-thousand young people in the constituency are unemployed, according to a survey commissioned by him.“There is a groundswell of support for me. Having begun my campaign well ahead of others, I have made inroads in the constituency, especially in rural areas,” says Mr. Pandia Rajan, who turned 50 recently.

The fact that his party is going it alone will not be a handicap to fulfilling his promises, he says. Mr. Pandia Rajan, a product of Coimbatore’s PSG College of Technology and XLRI, Jamshedpur, says most of his promises will be implemented through public-private partnership and working closely with the bureaucracy, which he is confident of doing.

On the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the DMDK candidate, who was born in Vilampatti village near Sivakasi, says there needs to be better coordination among government agencies and a scientific approach to project identification. He favours strengthening the scheme, which, he says, can be used to address the problem of shortage of labourers in agriculture. Toning up extension services and forming food processing zones are his priority areas in the farm sector.

Given the educational backwardness of the area, low internet penetration and a politically-controlled local cable television, the DMDK candidate is banking on the door-to-door campaigning and is moves around the constituency by jeep and van.

There is nothing like reaching out to the people directly, says the HR specialist-turned politician.

Army Vehicles Attacked

With political parties in Tamil Nadu raising the campaign pitch over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, members of a pro-LTTE outfit attacked a convoy of Army vehicles on the Coimbatore bypass road here on Saturday. In the attack by cadres of Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK), fuel tanks and windscreens of three Army vehicles were damaged, and baggage and other belongings of jawans set on fire. Several pieces of ammunition, including rocket propelled grenades, lay scattered on the bypass road at Nilambur, 15km from here, after the attack.

About 200 jawans of the Gorkha and Madras Regiments were returning to the camp at Madukkarai in southern Coimbatore in 80 army trucks and two civilian lorries after taking part in a rifle training programme in Secunderabad. Around 3 pm, PDK cadres stopped four vehicles, claiming that the jawans were carrying weapons to Colombo via Kochi to be used by the Sri Lankan army to fight the LTTE. Shouting slogans against the Army, about 20 PDK cadres pulled out the driver of the civilian lorry and a jawan seated in the cabin, and assaulted them. They went on a rampage for over half an hour, attacking the civilian lorry and three Army trucks. Four men held for attack on Army convoy in Neelambur Chennai: An Army convoy was attacked by the Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK) cadres suspecting that the trucks were carrying arms and ammunition to Colombo via Kochi to be used by the Sri Lankan army to fight the LTTE.

A few fuel cans from were pulled out of the Army trucks and set on fire. A civilian lorry driver was injured in the attack. After the other trucks arrived, the Army personnel doused the flames and chased away the PDK cadres. Police reinforcements were brought in and four PDK cadres were arrested. After over one hour, the convoy proceeded to the Madukkarai army camp. “We were not carrying any ammunition. After a firing camp, the jawans were returning to Madukkarai,” Lieutenant Colonel Ajay Sharma said. “Luckily, the jawans did not retaliate or open fire. The situation would have worsened if that happened. Cases of rioting have been booked against the PDK cadres,” IGP (west zone) Pramod Kumar told TOI. Police are searching for the PDK cadres who escaped after attacking the convoy. The jawans claimed that their vehicles were stopped by PDK cadres at Erode and Salem too. They were allowed to leave after the first truck in the convoy was checked.

Coimbatore needs Develpment !

In one important way, it is a different Coimbatore that is facing the Lok Sabha election on May 13. The demand for development is being addressed by the candidates; a far cry from the days of harping on fundamentalism in a once communally volatile constituency. Candidates of this constituency have to content with its grievances that largely pertain to inadequate infrastructure. A reversal of sentiment has occurred with various sections of the city that took pride in building a Coimbatore without government assistance, now demanding quality infrastructure to match growth.

Now, even industrial organisations such as the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry are placing Coimbatore’s infrastructure wish list before the candidates. Citizens’ groups have also have prepared a 10-point people’s manifesto that calls on the government to act on providing good roads, rail links and expand the airport. A major demand in the city and the suburbs is for more drinking water. “Development is the main agenda. Coimbatore has reached a stage where only better infrastructure can take it forward,” says R.R.Balasundaram, vice-president of the Chamber, and secretary of the Residents’ Awareness Association of Coimbatore, which is spearheading a movement for flyovers, ring roads and other world-class facilities. These are all demands for close to a decade.

More investment in Coimbatore depends on infrastructure. A ring road and radial roads connecting it with the city can lead to more townships coming up, he says.A compelling need
The focus on development is so compelling that candidates seem have very little space for personal attacks or party ideologies. “Do something to provide us with more drinking water,” is the common refrain among voters in the city and the suburbs that largely make up the constituency.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate P.R.Natarajan launched his campaign attacking the Coimbatore Corporation for delaying the implementation of the Rs.113-crore Pilloor Phase II water scheme that is vital for its ambitious 24-hour water supply project. Mr.Natarajan and Congress candidate and former Union Minister R.Prabhu are locked in a tough battle. The former scores more points among voters by targeting the Congress-led Council in the Coimbatore Corporation on the water scheme and slow pace of implementing infrastructure schemes.

Even the Bharatiya Janata Party seems less strident with its usual poll plank of extremism. Its candidate G.K.S.Selvakumar too promises good roads and more water. A senior party functionary says the BJP had to change track locally because water-starved Coimbatoreans are unlikely to be satisfied with a promise to root out terrorism in Kashmir. Mr.Prabhu points at the development the UPA government has initiated in the form of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. He believes that a vote for continuity at the Centre will ensure sustained development in Coimbatore.

K.Ramasubramanian of the Bahujan Samaj Party, E.R.Easwaran of Kongunadu Munnetra Peravai and R.Pandian of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam emphasise the need to develop Coimbatore on the lines of Chennai and make it a favoured destination for investors.

Coimbatore Election Fever

Noor Mohammed, an automobile dealer, came dressed like a king on horseback to the Coimbatore collectorate to file his nomination for the Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency. On Friday, he had filed nomination for the Pollachi constituency. He had then come to the collectorate riding a bullockcart. Noor vowed to drive out “street dogs” if elected to Parliament. “I have no doubts I will win. I won the ward by-election in Kurichi Municipality in 1997, defeating both the DMK and AIADMK candidates,” says Noor. In his campaign, Noor Mohammed will not take on his rival candidates, but the street dogs which prowl the roads of Pollachi and Coimbatore and pounce on unwitting passersby.

CM @ Coimbatore On May8th

DMK president M Karunanidhi, the party’s star campaigner, will restrict his canvassing to just four election meetings in major cities in Tamil Nadu, the party said on Friday. Karunanidhi, who underwent a spinal cord surgery earlier this year, is confined to a wheel chair and has been advised by doctors not to exert himself. The medical advice effectively means that he cannot embark on a barnstorming campaign the way he used to in the past.

The DMK headquarters said in a release that he would begin his poll campaign with a May Day public meeting in Tiruchi. He will address similar election meetings in Madurai (May 5), Coimbatore (May 8) and Chennai (May 11). Karunanidhi, who will complete 85 years in June, has been the party’s unquestioned campaign star over the years, crisscrossing the state on a long campaign trail, involving both public meetings and street corner meetings in different locations.

The party had a campaign vehicle designed to ensure his comfort and having medical facilities, taking his health condition into account. Even in his campaign for the 2006 Assembly elections, he travelled to several parts of the state, being helped on to the dais by associates. However, after his surgery, he has been advised to avoid such strenuous travelling. There is no word yet on whether Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will come to the state for campaigning. There was speculation that she would address joint meetings with Karunanidhi. However, intelligence officials are believed to have advised against her visiting TN for security reason. Some top state Congress leaders are trying to persuade her to campaign for them, party sources said.

Self-immolation in Tiruppur over Sri Lankan Genocide

Showing solidarity for the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils, a 43-year-old man, identified as Subramani alias Banrottimani, set himself on fire at hosiery town Tirupur in Tamil Nadu.

He was seen talking as he was wheeled into a hospital. He died later at the hospital.

Meanwhile, Tamil lawyers backing the LTTE's cause held a demonstration in Coimbatore to vent their anger at the Sri Lankan offensive against the rebels.

"Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa is now engaged in killing Tamil population as Sri Lanka is only a Singhalese country. India is supporting and Sri Lanka is trying to accommodate Singhalese population in the Tamil living areas," Sivasami Tamilan, a protesting lawyer.

"All financial help to Sri Lanka by the Indian Government is used to construct new houses for the Singhalese people. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi is playing drama in Tamil Nadu in the name of Tamil people," added Sivasami.

Indian politicians face pressure to protect Sri Lankan Tamils, who are closely linked to about 60 million Tamils in the state of Tamil Nadu across a narrow strait from Sri Lanka.

But those opposing the LTTE lauded the Sri Lankan Government for trying the crush the rebels.

Meanwhile, MS Bitta, chairman of the All India Anti-Terrorist Front, said in New Delhi before his visit to the Sri Lankan High Commission to laud the Rajpaksa Government for taking on the rebels with iron gloves.

"The Sri Lanka Government has with power shown how to fight terrorism and bullet for bullet. We have to face the challenge. I have come to thank the Sri Lanka Government and have also got an award for the Sri Lankan President. I will also go to Sri Lanka and thank the Sri Lankan President in person," Bitta said.