Chennai: The VCK–PMK poll rivalry, which grips much of the northern Tamil Nadu districts, begins on the outskirts of Chennai, from Thiruporur assembly constituency. Historically, victory margins have been narrow in at least seven elections. Reason: dalits and vanniyars are in near-equal numbers from Uthandi to Mamallapuram.As Old Mamallapuram Road (OMR) has transformed into the information technology corridor, candidates are beelining to high-rises, villas and gated communities across Navalur, Kelambakkam, Thalambur and Thiruporur, chasing votes beyond core caste bases.PMK has won here fielding a dalit candidate, while VCK has won with a vanniyar face in the past. This time around, the electorate jumped from 2.5 lakh in 2016 to 2.8 lakh in 2026. Even in a close contest in 2021, nearly 15% voters backed new parties.“The composition is neck-and-neck. So, residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) will be the swing factor,” said former VCK MLA S S Balaji, the Vanniyar candidate who defeated PMK in 2021. This time, VCK has fielded a Dalit candidate, Panneerdas, who was a former GCC councillor in Perungudi.In the core-vote belt – consisting of scores of villages such as Thaiyur, Perur, Kayar, and Thirukazhukundram – DMK cadre remain bitter over losing the seat to VCK and struggle to spread VCK’s ‘pot’symbol.“It has been difficult to take the ‘pot’ symbol beyond VCK’s core vote bank. In 2021, we couldn’t convince even DMK voters. ‘Rising sun’ symbol can cut across caste lines, and help in getting mudaliyar and vanniyar votes which are sizeable. We are now campaigning highlighting DMK’s projects, and we ask to vote for Stalin and not for the candidate,” said D Sathyamoorthy, DMK councillor of Thirukazhukundram.“Perception of DMK spearheading the battle is important to win the seat,” said D Karthik, Perur village’s deputy sports secretary. In some PMK strong-hold villages such as Kayar, people flag bus connectivity issues. “Last time, VCK won. But they did not improve bus connectivity for our village. The Vidiyal Payanam Scheme isn’t any use for our village as there’s no bus going to Chennai. This serves no purpose to poor people who work as house help in gated communities. We’ve to go to Chengalpet for hospitals too,” said Ezhumalai D of Kayar “Thiruporur has several village panchayats. They lack funds and have to be upgraded. I will focus on water, sewage, and waste management,” said PMK candidate K Balu.As in many other constituencies, here also the TVK is seen as a disruptor. Several villagers in traditional VCK hamlets said they are weighing new options as key social issues have been unresolved. “We are still burying bodies in forest land. We don’t have a burial ground for ourselves. The nearby villages don’t allow us to bury in their burial grounds,” said E Vasanth of Thaiyur. Fishermen in Mamallapuram fly TVK flags on boats. “We don’t want to be part of the VCK-PMK caste battle. Fishing villages in Mahabalipuram and Kovalam may back TVK because of this,” said C Nanguran, Mahabalipuram fishermen’s union member. In 2021, the NTK polled 9% votes. It has now fielded Ambeth Rajan, BSP’s former Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh. “I went to Noida for labour work, and joined BSP. I worked with BSP for three decades after which I was nominated for Rajya Sabha. I liked Seeman’s speeches and came back to TN. We are spreading a strong campaign on environmental issues,” said Rajan.
