Just a few days ahead of voting, Thousand Lights feels the election heat. Convoys inch through traffic-choked arteries, late-evening corner meetings crowd busy junctions, and party volunteers press doorbells in high-rises where turnout has lagged the state’s robust averages. It is a densely built central Chennai constituency, which has sent DMK legislators to Fort St George in eight of 12 elections since 1971, while the AIADMK has won four.The constituency folds together commercial hubs with high-rise apartments and older neighbourhoods around Thousand Lights, Greams Road and Royapettah, along with pockets of Nungambakkam and Teynampet.For the DMK, Thousand Lights has never been just another city seat but a political showcase – it is where party patriarch M Karunanidhi voted for decades. This DMK stronghold was chosen as the launchpad for chief minister M K Stalin, who lost his debut election in 1984 but won for the first time in 1989, and stitched together a record of back-to-back wins in 1996, 2001 and 2006.In a sign of confidence, the party has renominated its incumbent, Dr Ezhilan Naganathan, a senior physician who, as a first-time candidate, defeated BJP’s Khushbu Sundar in 2021 by a margin of more than 32,000. The AIADMK, by contrast, has turned to former minister B Valarmathi, who beat Stalin here in 2011 – the last time he stood from the seat – and is trying to rally a shrinking but stubborn base against new entrants such as Vijay’s TVK. The vote share of Seeman’s NTK has climbed from about 1.5% in 2016 to roughly 6.5% in 2021. NTK has fielded former film director M Kalanjiyam, while TVK has named former MLA JCD Prabhakar.After filing her nomination from the constituency on Monday, Valarmathi said that her pitch centres on civic complaints, cutting across income levels, such as flooding, garbage and the lack of piped drinking water. “There are newer anxieties – encroachments, road cuts, traffic and a shortage of parking spaces. In most neighbourhoods, commercial growth has outpaced basic infrastructure,” she said.The incumbent, Dr Ezhilan Naganathan, concedes that parking is a concern. He says his team has identified at least 18 “hidden spaces” – vacant, unused govt land parcels – that could be converted into multi-level parking structures, a project he says has been set in motion and that he promises to push if returned to office. Over the past five years, his focus has been on repairing and upgrading schools, creating sports arenas, rebuilding vulnerable habitats and completing core civil projects, from stormwater drains and sewers to piped water supply. “I realise there are backlogs. To prevent this, I plan to work with multiple govt agencies on strict timelines,” he said during a door-to-door campaign.As autos and campaign vans bearing rival symbols weave through the narrow lanes, the talk over evening tea has turned to politics. “I’ve been voting for the DMK for as long as I can remember,” said 78-year-old Lakshmi S, watching a convoy pass her gate. “Royapettah has always stood with Kalaignar’s party, and I believe it still will,” she said.Behind Lakshmi, her grandson, Anbazhagan R, 27, smiled. Many young voters know Stalin more as a chief minister or opposition leader than as their former legislator. They have grown up watching actor Vijay on screen, and now on the hustings. “It has never been just about AIADMK or DMK here. The EVMs have multiple options. This time we have Vijay too,” said Anbazhagan, who works at a restaurant. For many like him, the decision may hinge less on the old ideological loyalties that once defined Chennai politics.
