The case went to the Madras HC which ruled that the Hindu community can light the lamp while the DMK government claimed it could lead to ‘communal tension.’ While a lot of bad blood has been spilt between DMK and BJP on the issue, on the ground there is absolute calm which might challenge BJP’s claim of it being the “Ayodhya of the South”.
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“There is no tension here. Whatever tension or anything that was claimed was only in newspapers and TV. Things are perfectly calm,” said a shopkeeper near the hill, who did not want to be identified.
BJP, however, bets that the reverberations of the dispute between the two communities could help it gain a fillip in entire Tamil Nadu like the Ayodhya movement did for the party in Uttar Pradesh. Which is why BJP staked its claim strongly during seat negotiations with AIADMK. However, AIADMK chief Edappadi Palaniswami did not relent as he didn’t want BJP to use the constituency as a stepping stone in the state.
AIADMK MLA Rajan Chellappa, who is contesting for the second time, also chooses not to dwell on the controversy, saying that he would like to speak about his work.”We are developing the constituency as a lot of devotees come here to seek blessings and have weddings. We want to build facilities for the tourists.
No tension on ground, say locals; AIADMK, DMK and TVK field candidates from dominant Thevar community, complicating vote math
There was a long-standing drainage problem and I have got the work executed while the DMK tried to drag the issue,” said Chellappa. The Karthigai Deepam controversy was fanned by DMK which mishandled the entire issue, says Chellappa.
The constituency’s electorate includes a Muslim population, constituting approximately 10% of the voters. Chellappa belongs to the dominant Thevar community that is around 24% in the constituency which gives him a head start. In the 2021 elections, Chellappa defeated CPI(M) candidate K Ponnuthai by around 29,000 votes.
The DMK-CPI(M) strategy then was to field a candidate from the SC community which is around 10-12%, to consolidate the Muslim, SC and anti-AIADMK votes to defeat Chellappa. However, the strategy did not work as the Thevar votes consolidated in favour of Chellappa while SC voters did not favour CPI(M) candidate.
This time though, DMK has changed the caste arithmetic. It has given a ticket to Krithika Thanga Pandian, also from Thevar community. This is an attempt to cause a split in the Thevar votes. DMK is betting that the minority votes, plus the SC and the split Thevar votes could help its candidate win. To make matters more interesting, actor Vijay’s TVK is also in the fray. Its candidate is CTR Nirmal Kumar, who also belongs to Thevar community.
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Now, there is a three-way split for Thevar community votes which is a challenge for Chellappa. While it’s an uphill climb for AIADMK this time around, BJP is not willing to come down from the hill. In its manifesto, it has promised to maintain a permanent lamp on the hill referring to the controversy of the traditional Karthigai Deepam at the site.
