EGMORE: Chennai’s downtown and a melting pot of old Madras and modern metropolis, is one of the oldest constituencies in the city and has been a hotly contested seat since 1957. What makes it stand out in the 17th Assembly election is that all top contestants are first-timers, making it an interesting battle to watch.DMK’s choice for the reserved constituency is Prasanna Sundaram alias Tamilan Prasanna, the party’s state joint secretary of the public relations wing of the DMK is the party’s face and voice in television and public debates. AIADMK has pitted a fresh face, Abhishek Rangasamy, a young entrepreneur and the party’s youth wing secretary and a ward councillor. TVK has fielded the party’s spokesperson Rajmohan. Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) has fielded techie and daughter of the soil, Saranya E Imran, of Pulianthope.Egmore is one of the smallest constituencies in the state, and home to various religions and a myriad workforce. It has high-density commercial hubs like Purasawalkam, Periamet and Pudupet; Choolai, dotted with small-scale industries and godowns; Pulianthope, comprising lower-middleclass income groups; transport hubs like Egmore and Chennai Central; and posh residential pockets including Shenoy Nagar, Kilpauk and Chetpet.Egmore is historically known as a DMK fort, having sent 10 MLAs from the Dravidian major in the last 12 elections. It elected Parithi Ilamvazhuthi five times between 1989 and 2006. In the last two elections, DMK’sKSRavichandranandIParanthamen won in 2016 and 2021 respectively.Tamilan Prasanna is confident that DMK’s winning streak will continue, primarily due to the committed vote bank which is further bolstered by the welfare schemes of the Stalin govt. “DMK and Egmore are inseparable. I could feel people’s warmth wherever we went. With the guidance of our district secretary P K Sekar Babu, we are only working towards winning with the highest margin,” he said.
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But Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam’s A Rajmohan says the very fact that DMK did not wish to renominate the incumbent MLA I Paranthamen tells the ground reality. “Both DMK and AIADMK decided to field youngsters after TVK nominated me for Egmore. The assumption that Egmore is a DMK bastion is a thing of the past. People look for a change and see TVK as the ambassador of change,” he said.Abhishek Rangasamy of AIADMK too pegs this election as one for change and is hopeful that Egmore would be swept away by the EPS wave. “AIADMK’s poll manifesto and the prevailing anti-incumbency will do the trick. We already have an advantage of 20% votes thanks to the anti-incumbency, and we are confident of securing a 65% vote share in Egmore,” he said. Rangasamy says the constituency’s perennial problem of water stagnation speaks to how much care and attention the previous MLAs devoted to their constituency.Naam Tamilar Katchi’s candidate Saranya E Imran is banking on the voters of areas like Pulianthope, Otteri and Pudupet, where people’s living conditions are poor. “There are areas where people still lack basic amenities like toilets and the lives of people living near Basin Bridge dumpyard are pathetic. Drug abuse, waterlogging during monsoon, power cuts, rowdyism still exist, and my vow to my people is that I will bring change if elected,” she says. Saranya says NTK remains steadfast to its ideologies, unlike other parties, and adds that the support base of urban voters is only growing stronger.
