Environmental clean-up, economic fillip, and demand for rail services dominate voter expectations in Arakkonam

April 14, 2024 08:10 pm | Updated April 15, 2024 10:17 am IST - CHENNAI

In a three-cornered contest, DMK heavyweight S. Jagathrakshakan, who won by a huge margin of over three lakh votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, is seeking another term in Arakkonam Lok Sabha constituency.

With the AIADMK fielding L. Vijayan and the party’s former ally PMK fielding advocate K. Balu in the constituency, whether the former Union Minister, who has won thrice from the constituency, will register a similar comfortable win to retain the seat remains to be seen.

As of now, integrated Vellore (Ranipet, Vellore, and Tirupattur districts) is the DMK’s stronghold, considering the fact that except for three of the 13 Assembly constituencies, the rest are held by the DMK alliance. In Arakkonam Parliamentary constituency, five of the six Assembly constituencies of Arakkonam, Sholingur, Katpadi, Ranipet, Arcot, and Tiruttani (Tiruvallur district) are held by the DMK and the Congress.

In 2019, Mr. Jagathrakshakan polled 6,72,190 of the total 11,79,712 votes, defeating A.K. Moorthy of the PMK, which was then a part of the AIADMK alliance. With the contest getting intense with the AIADMK and the PMK going their separate ways, the latter aligning with the BJP, how various factors such as alliance, caste composition, minorities, and regional issues influence the voting patterns will be keenly watched.

As far as caste is concerned, the constituency has a significant presence of the Vanniyar community followed by the Dalits. With the AIADMK breaking its ties with the BJP, some of its cadre in the constituency say this will help the party gain the minority votes. Some parts of the constituency, such as Melvisharam, have a reasonable Muslim population. The cadre and party’s candidate alike claim that there is a sense of dissatisfaction against Mr. Jagathrakshakan for failing to represent their concerns in Parliament, and this could turn voters to the AIADMK.

The constituency, a highly industrialised region, has agriculture and weaving as its other dominant sectors. There is no dearth of issues related to pollution and water contamination. It may be recalled that Ranipet, with its tanneries and chemical units, earned the dubious distinction of being one of the 10 cities/districts/villages on the New York-based Blacksmith Institute’s list of worst polluted places in the world two decades ago.

The abandoned premises of the Tamil Nadu Chromates and Chemicals Limited (TCCL), where several tonnes of chromium-bearing solid waste were left behind after the unit shut operations in 1995, stands as proof that not much has changed in the last few decades. Over the years, this has led to extensive pollution of water resources in and around the locality and continues to pose a huge health hazard for residents.

L.C. Mani, district secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha-Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Association, said the chromium waste had not been removed from the site, and it has heavily polluted groundwater sources in the surrounding villages.

One of the sectors that has taken a huge beating in the last 10 to 15 years is powerloom sector. A number of weavers pointed out that the once dominant sector had been badly affected owing to a multitude of factors such as low wages, high costs involved in the production process, including for obtaining yarn and machinery, and the Goods and Services Tax (GST). As a result, the number of units have dwindled in many parts of the constituency.

Mr. Mani charged the Union government of stepmotherly treatment towards the State. “The railway line between Tindivanam and Nagari was delayed for several years. Hundreds of persons travel by train from this part of the State on a daily basis but the railways has done away with senior citizen concession. Similarly, demand to introduce hourly EMU services from Chennai to Katpadi stations similar to the Tambaram-Chennai Beach services have not been looked into,” he said.

Naina Masilamani, member, Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee and president of the Arakkonam Rail Passengers Association, said the Southern Railway had “failed miserably” in meeting the needs of passengers over the years. “They should understand that the population has increased, and so, the services need to be increased accordingly. Arakkonam junction is a non-suburban grade 2 station, with an annual income of more than ₹50 crore. The footfall is nearly a lakh per day. It is a very important junction and is well connected in all directions but is not well served,” he said.

He added that despite being an important junction, none of the Vande Bharat trains have stoppages at Arakkonam citing lack of commercial viability. “The third and fourth lines between Tiruvallur and Arakkonam are still incomplete, and if completed, it will solve the traffic bottlenecks,” Mr. Masilamani added.

R. Subash, youth wing president of the Thamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangam, said paddy, sugarcane, and plantain were the predominantly cultivated crops in parts of the constituency, including Sholingur, Arakkonam, and Nemeli blocks. “We have a regulated market in Ammoor. There are potential areas where regulated markets can be identified, such as in Nemili and Panapakkam. We also want a direct procurement centre, similar to facilities in the delta region,” he said.

Candidates in the fray have assured to take measures to remove the chromium waste at TCCL site. Mr. Jagathrakshagan, during his campaign, is propagating the DMK’s election promises, while Mr. Vijayan has assured that he would take measures to establish a medical college in Ranipet district as well as a residential school for Adi Dravidar students under a Central government scheme. Steps to establish a yarn warehouse and to reduce its price were among his promises.

Mr. Balu said he would take efforts to bring in a national liquor policy to restrict the consumption of liquor. Noting that many youth were going to Chennai for employment, he said he would take steps to open factories to provide three lakh jobs. An international marketing centre to promote the sale of weavers’ products will be set up, he added.