DMK is facing a ‘double-engine’ referendum in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar constituency. The constituency was represented by Thayagam Kavi alias P Sivakumar in the assembly and R Priya as mayor in Greater Chennai Corporation. Taking on DMK is AIADMK’s Porkodi Armstrong, who is working on a caste consolidation and rekindling memories of her husband’s murder. TVK general secretary Aadhav Arjuna has, meanwhile, flagged a `430-crore toilet privatisation scam in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zone.TVK candidate M R Pallavi and NTK’s Jagadesh Chander are also in the fray. With the constituency’s proximity to Perambur, where TVK leader Vijay is contesting, his popularity is expected to split the votes in the constituency.Amidst the din, DMK candidate K S Ravichandran holds steady. Not a stranger to high-stakes poll battles, Ravichandran has been sweating it out and has even switched from shoes to slippers due to swelling in his feet. In 2016, he defeated former minister, five-time Egmore MLA and senior dalit leader Parithi Ilamvazhuthi in Egmore by more than 10,000 votes.Though a new face in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, Ravichandran comes across as familiar and approachable. He is spontaneous, hangs out at tea shops with his party men and interacts with the public before his meetings. He makes sure to address them as “brother”.“What has DMK not done for the constituency? The Vada Chennai Valarchi Thittam, which started in 2023, is now worth more than `6,500 crore. I don’t believe in caste calculations to win elections here. It may be a reserved seat, but we have come a long way from these things,” says Ravichandran, an advocate.AIADMK’s face in the constituency, Porkodi says, “My husband died for the people. It is my duty to serve them now.” Her political secretary, A Muthukrishnan, said, “Thayagam Kavi speaks about social justice, but it has not been reflected on the ground. Porkodi is a leader with a strong ideological background. After Satyavaani Muthu, she will be the next big woman leader from dalits.”He says youngsters from families that Armstrong had helped are now working at the ground level for Porkodi. The moral support expressed by VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan and TVK’s Aadhav Arjuna has had a good effect.Anbumani Ramadoss, during his campaign here, said the working-class people, including dalits, vanniyars and yadavars, must join and achieve social justice. The constituency, however, isn’t entirely about caste equations. Though there are massive clusters of SC population in Pulianthope, Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, Pattalam and Otteri, the constituency also has urban and middle-class pockets such as Perambur and parts of Purasawakkam, Ayanavaram and Kelly’s. These areas have a lot of gated communities, including Hindi-speaking populations such as Jains and migrants.R Rajan, mayor Priya’s father and senior DMK functionary, said the MLA renovated the Perambur bus terminus, and they built the Ambedkar marriage hall. “There are sports turfs, gyms for women, and newly renovated parks – all done using mayor’s funds. We are carrying out a development-based outreach,” he said. Ever since Thiru Vi Ka Nagar was formed as a new constituency with 1.78 lakh voters, and the AIADMK won the first election in 2011, DMK has elevated its party cadre from the locality to strengthen its hold there. P K Sekarbabu, who lives in Otteri near Purasawalkam, was made HR&CE minister in 2021, while the DMK reserved the mayoral post for SC women and gave it to Priya. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami called Priya a “bommai” (toy) mayor and said that a city of Chennai’s size needed a stronger person at the helm. Sekarbabu told TOI that EPS has defamed a dalit woman and the mayor by using unparliamentary words against her.
