TN Assembly polls | Tough contest in the southernmost district

DMK-Congress combine faces a challenge in three constituencies as the arithmetic favours their rival

When the AIADMK, under Jayalalithaa, won a second consecutive term in 2016, Kanniyakumari bucked the trend by electing the candidates of the DMK-Congress combine in all six Assembly constituencies in the district. In four segments, the BJP pushed the AIADMK to the third place. A simple arithmetic, taking into consideration the votes polled by the AIADMK and the BJP separately in 2016, should give an edge to the AIADMK-BJP alliance. However, the fact that the BJP’s candidate for the Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha seat, Pon. Radhakrishnan, was defeated by the Congress’s H. Vasanthakumar by a margin of over 2.5 lakh votes in 2019, though the AIADMK and the BJP faced the election together, tells a different story.

“Simple arithmetic calculations will not work in politics. You should keep in mind that when the BJP and the AIADMK contested the polls separately, the AIADMK’s candidates were Christians in three constituencies. A substantial chunk of the Christian votes would have gone in their favour. Now, the votes of the Christians are unlikely to go to BJP and AIADMK candidates,” argued M. Ahamed Hussain, district executive member of the CPI(M).

In 2016, AIADMK’s N. Thalavai Sundaram was defeated by DMK’s S. Austin by a margin of over 6,000 votes, while BJP candidate Meena Dev polled 24,638 votes. Former DMK Minister N. Suresh Rajan won the Nagercoil constituency, securing 67,369 votes. BJP veteran M.R. Gandhi came second with 46,413 votes, while the AIADMK’s Nanjil Murugesan polled 45,828 votes.

In Colachel, BJP candidate Ramesh got the second place, polling 41,167 votes. The votes polled by AIADMK candidate K.T. Patchamal were 39,218.

BJP’s C. Dharmaraj secured the second place in Vilavancode with 35,646 votes and AIADMK’s Nanjil Dominic Savio George got 24,801 votes. In the Killiyur and Padmanabhapuram constituencies, the performance of Congress candidates Rajeshkumar and Mano Thangaraj respectively was too good to be matched by the AIADMK-BJP alliance.

This time, since the AIADMK candidates for Kanniyakumari, Nagercoil and Colachel are Hindus, the DMK-Congress alliance is facing a tough challenge.

Mr. Hussain contended that the consolidation of the Hindu votes had already reached its peak, and the BJP’s hope to further the trend would not fructify in this election.

In a district where religion plays a predominant role in politics, the open support extended by the Tamil Nadu Bishops’ Council (TNBC) to the DMK-Congress alliance could make a difference. “Though there are many secular forces in the fray, we have a duty to support the force that would defeat the communal forces,” said Rev. Antony Pappusamy, president of TNBC.

The BJP’s youth wing vice-president, R. Savarkar, however, maintained that the arithmetic points to an easy victory for the AIADMK’s candidate in the Kanniyakumari constituency and the BJP’s candidate in Nagercoil.

C. Madhavan alias Murgan of the DMK’s advocates’ wing said, “The presence of the two Communist parties, the VCK and the MDMK will help neutralise new votes that are expected to go to the AIADMK-BJP alliance.”

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