Battle between a mentor and his former protege

Puducherry: As the poll arena hots up in Puducherry, Raj Bhavan constituency gets added importance as the electoral battle here is between a mentor and his one time protege.

Veteran politician P. Kannan, who joined AIADMK recently, is facing his one-time follower K. Lakshminarayanan of Congress in the battle of the ballot.

Lakshminarayanan was closely associated with Kannan for years right from the beginning of his political career.

Kannan, who is a veteran in state politics, had been elected from Cassicade seat for three consecutive years in 1985 and 1990 on the Congress ticket and as an independent in 1996.

When he launched Puducherry Makkal Congress in 2001, the seat was allotted to his close ally Lakshminarayanan who later became the Tourism and education minister after the party merged with Congress. Kannan launched his Puducherry Munnetra Congress in 2006 and the Cassicade seat was retained by Lakshminarayanan. His party again merged with Congress in 2009 when Kannan was nominated as a Rajya Sabha member.

When Cassicade was merged with Raj Bhavan following delimitation in 2011 Lakshminarayanan won for the third time as MLA, but this time on Congress ticket. He defeated AIADMK’s Sivakumar by 7,071 votes polling 36.69 per cent of total votes.

The constituency has a mix up of voters from different economic , class and caste status. AIADMK is approaching the voters focusing more on the failures of AINRC government, including that of not providing employment opportunities, which is one of the most discussed  topics in the constituency. Though he is in the election fray after a gap of 15 years, Kannan still enjoys considerable support from the people.

Lakshiminarayanan is confident of winning from the constituency for the fourth consecutive term. Talking to DC,  he said “ I did my maximum to the people of the constituency, both as minister and as an opposition MLA, by providing employment opportunities, did many things in the education sector and ensured basic facilities like water, electricity, roads and drainage.” He will give preference to ensuring employment opportunities, making Puducherry a clean city with an effective garbage management system.

Asked about his mentor P Kannan, Lakshminarayanan said “Congress has fielded me, I am doing what Arjuna did in Mahabharatha”. Raj Bhavan constituency supported either Congress or DMK candidates in the elections from 1964 onwards, except 1977, which is also believed to be a positive factor for Lakshminaryanan. The ruling AINRC has fielded Annibal Nehru in the constituency.