Chennai, April 15( IANS) Ever for the reason that Katchatheevu island difficulty was raised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi just lately, Tamil Nadu has been witnessing heightened political exercise with leaders elevating allegations and counter allegations on the problem reducing throughout occasion strains.
Expectedly, the problem has develop into a speaking level within the Nagapattinam Lok Sabha constituency, the place the INDIA bloc has fielded CPI chief V. Selvaraj towards AIADMK’s Surjeet Sankar and S.G.M. Ramesh of the BJP, who’s the son of late Communist chief S.G. Murugaiyan.
Fishermen’s points are additionally dominating the political discourse in Nagapattinam, which has a stretch of 187 km of coastal space.
Since January 1, round 124 fishermen from Tamil Nadu have been arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy, which additionally impounded greater than 20 mechanised boats costing massive sums of cash.
The Nagapattinam fishing hamlet has 1,064 mechanised boats, the most important within the state.
Prime Minister Modi just lately raised the Katchatheevu difficulty and accused the erstwhile Congress authorities of handing over the island to Sri Lanka in 1974 with the connivance of then DMK Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, triggering a serious political debate, particularly in Nagapattinam.
Farming is one other main vocation for the folks of this constituency that falls within the tail finish of the Cauvery Delta area, the place paddy cultivation is completed on round 1.37 hectares of land. This makes water provide from the Cauvery River a serious difficulty on this area.
Whereas Karnataka has been accused of denying Cauvery water to the state, the announcement of the development of the Mekedatu dam has prompted apprehensions among the many farming neighborhood of the area.
This difficulty appears to have put the INDIA bloc candidate and senior CPI chief V. Selvaraj on the again foot, because the Congress, a key constituent of the opposition alliance, is in energy in Karnataka.
The Congress authorities in Karnataka has allotted round Rs 8,500 crore for the development of the Mekedatu dam, which might result in decreased water circulate from Cauvery into Tamil Nadu, thus affecting the farmers in Nagapattinam.
Within the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, CPI candidate M. Selvarasu defeated M. Saravanan of the AIADMK by a margin of two,11,353 votes.
The constituency includes six Meeting segments — Nagapattinam, Kilvelur, Vedaranyam, Thiruthuraipoondi, Thiruvarur, and Nannilam.
Within the 2021 Meeting elections, the Nagapattinam Meeting seat was received by VCK chief Aloor Shanavas who defeated AIADMK’s Thanka Kathiravan by a margin of seven,238 votes.
Kilvelur meeting seat was received by Nagaimaali of the CPI-M within the 2021 meeting elections defeating PMK chief ,Vadivel Ravanan by a margin of 16,985 votes. Within the ,Vedaranyam seat OS Manian of the AIADMK defeating SK Vedarathinam of the DMK by a margin of 12,329 votes.
The Thiruthuraipoondi Meeting seat was received by Ok. Marimuthu of the CPI, who defeated C. Suresh Kumar of the AIADMK by 30,068 votes. DMK’s Ok. Poondi Kalaivanan received the Thiruvarur Meeting seat by defeating A.N.R. Panneerselvam of the AIADML by an enormous margin of 51,174 votes.
The Nannilam seat was received by R. Kamaraj of the AIADMK who beat DMK’s S. Jothiraman by a slender margin of 4,424 votes.
Thus, the candidates of VCK, DMK, CPI, and CPI-M — that are all a part of the INDIA bloc now — received 4 of the six Meeting seats in 2021, whereas the remaining two seats had been received by the AIADMK, which was in an alliance with the PMK, and the BJP.
Nevertheless, elections for the Lok Sabha are fairly completely different and the previous leads to Meeting polls can’t be taken because the benchmark for predicting the outcomes.
Commenting on the competition, BJP candidate S.G.M. Ramesh instructed IANS, “Our occasion is contesting to win the elections. Now we have reached out to nearly all of the voters within the constituency. We’re showcasing the distinctive governance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The developmental initiatives taken up by the Modi authorities have given us the chance to attach with the folks of Tamil Nadu. I strongly consider that there could be a shift within the psyche of the voters in Tamil Nadu, and we are going to win many seats, together with Nagapattinam, this time.”
Whereas the BJP chief sounded assured of profitable the polls, some locals predict a tricky contest in Nagapattinam.
They are saying by fielding the son of a revered Communist chief, the BJP will lower into opposition votes.
Ok.R. Palainiappan, a neighborhood fisherman, instructed IANS, “Fishermen from the area are often attacked by the Sri Lankan Navy. Many neighborhood members are languishing in jail, whereas our pricey mechanised boats are additionally being impounded, inflicting distress to us. Each the Central and state governments have been discovered wanting on this difficulty, although of late the Centre has proven some curiosity on this matter.”
He additionally stated that Prime Minister Modi elevating the Katchatheevu difficulty has introduced the matter to the centre stage, as to how and why the island was given away to Sri Lanka on a platter.
R.Shakthivel, a political analyst-cum-psephologist primarily based out of Tirunelveli, instructed IANS, “Nagapattinam has been a standard stronghold for the Communists, which supplies the CPI candidate an edge. However after the Prime Minister raised the Katchatheevu difficulty, the BJP has gained some floor. Additionally, its candidate S.G.M. Ramesh hails from a Communist household and will lower into some Left votes. Whereas the AIADMK additionally has its conventional help base within the constituency, I really feel CPI’s Selvaraj has an edge proper now.”
–IANS
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