Tough battle ahead for Durai Murugan in Katpadi

Katpadi: He has been the darling of the masses here and still commands considerable respect among them. DMK veteran Durai Murugan may, however, have to walk the extra mile this time to enter the Tamil Nadu Assembly for the fifth consecutive term from this semi-urban constituency.

Pitted against the formidable Appu alias Radhakrishnan of AIADMK, who gave a tough fight to the DMK stalwart in the 2011 Assembly elections, Mr Durai Murugan is banking on the traditional DMK and Vanniyar votes to romp home this time from Katpadi, the important railway junction on Chennai-Bengaluru route, after having scraped through in the last elections.

Mr Durai Murugan, who has been contesting from Katpadi near Vellore since 1996, is one of the towering leaders of the DMK, and is close to the top brass including M Karunanidhi and M.K. Stalin. However, his closeness with the father-son duo failed to cut ice with partymen who protested against his nomination initially, but came around after Mr Durai Murugan made an emotional plea to them.  Prior to 1996, he had won from Katpadi in 1971 and 1989 and lost the elections from here in 1991.

Though the party machinery and his vote bank are strong, Mr Durai Murugan’s main challenge is to take on Mr Radhakrishnan, who lost the 2011 elections only by a narrow margin of around 2,800 votes to the DMK leader.

Since both Mr Durai Murugan and Mr Radhakrishnan are Vanniyars, the dominant community in the constituency, a split in the community’s vote bank is certain to happen and this is likely to affect the DMK. Vanniyars constitute over 40 per cent of the total 2.27 lakh electorate, while Dalits form 18 per cent and Mudaliyars 20 per cent.

The ruling AIADMK has fielded Mr Radhakrishnan yet again to take on Mr Durai Murugan, whose family still lives in Katpadi, and this seems to be keeping the DMK leader on his toes. Locals say though Mr Durai Murugan is a known face and executed a slew of development projects, the fact that AIADMK candidate is also strong enough is giving him sleepless night.

The PMK, which is still branded as a Vanniyar party, has fielded former Union Minister of State N.T. Shanmugam and T.S. Sivanandam of the TMC from the DMDK-PWA alliance. However, the fight would between the two Dravidian majors –DMK and AIADMK.

The decision by New Justice Party of A.C. Shanmugam not to contest the polls could come as a breather for Mr Durai Murugan since the party would have taken a considerable number of Mudaliyar votes if it had contested.

Though locals appreciate Mr Durai Murugan’s efforts in establishing Thiruvalluvar Open University and a Law University in the constituency, his habit of not visiting the constituency and being inaccessible while in Katpadi would go against him. Another complaint that locals have against Mr Durai Murugan is his silence on the water crisis that the people of the seat have been facing for the past few years.

“The only problem with Mr Durai Murugan is that he is not accessible to people in Katpadi after he wins the elections. He is accessible only during elections. He has been an MLA from here since 1996 and hardly has he spoken about Katpadi and its problems in the Assembly. He was an Opposition MLA twice, but still he is not vocal about local problems,”

S. Jana, who runs a mobile shop in Katpadi and a resident for 15 years, says.
However, Ms Jayalakshmi, a school teacher, says it was only due to the steps taken by Mr Durai Murugan the proposal to shift the dumping yard of Vellore to Katpadi was shelved and remembers his efforts to implement the Cauvery Combined Water Project.

“There are several things which he has done. He even participated in people’s protest against the dumping yard. I will vote for him,” she says. Mr Durai Murugan’s principal opponent Mr Radhakrishnan is popular among AIADMK cadre and they are likely to put in more efforts to secure the victory which was beyond reach though it was at a sniffing distance last time.