Kadaladi: Rough ride for Opposition leader

By Radha Venkatesan

KADALADI, MAY 2.The senior Tamil Maanila Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly is not exactly a stranger to Kadaladi. He contested in this coastal constituency in Ramanathapuram in 1989 and lost to the same local DMK heavyweight, Mr.SP. Thangavelan, he takes on once now.

But the circumstances that shifted the docile Opposition leader from his present Mudukulathur seat to neighbouring Kadaladi, are rather strange. When the TMC struck an alliance with the AIADMK, Mr.Balakrishnan, a third front votary, decided to keep out of the electoral race.

In the seats allocation, the AIADMK denied the TMC the Mudukulathur seat but offered Kadaladi. Just when the party was contemplating alloting the seat to the local strongman, Mr.P.K.Krishnan, the Opposition leader changed his mind and jumped into the fray.

For, in Mr.Balakrishnan's perception, Kadaladi is a safer seat than Mudukulathur, which elected him to the Assembly thrice including in 1996. But, in reality, Kadaladi, is a rough ride for the Opposition leader.

To his disadvantage, Mr.Balakrishnan is not from the dominant Thevar community, but his DMK opponent is. And, his not- so- remarkable performance in Mudukulathur is not totally unknown to Kadaladi voters. Besides, the DMK polled about 2000 more votes in this Assembly segment in the recent parliamentary election. And its new ally, Puthiya Tamizhagam, could get a sizeable number of Pallar votes for the DMK now.

And more importantly, though there are patches of discontent among the voters of this vast constituency over water and power scarcity, Mr. Thangavelan, sitting MLA of Kadaladi, is not unpopular. He has brought a few water supply schemes, road projects and power-substations, which contribution Mr.Balakrishnan himself gracefully concedes.

But, Mr.Balakrishnan claims he is a ``favourite of all communities''. He reasons thus: As a Yadava, his community which is in sizeable numbers in Kadaladi, would totally back him with the AIADMK as his ally, the 25 per cent Thevar votes would tumble into his kitty. Then, Muslims concentrated in the Keezhakarai area fully trust the TMC, hence would vote for him. And since, Mr.Thangavelan is a Thevar, the over 20 per cent Dalit-Pallar voters would favour the TMC.

But the TMC is no force to reckon with in this constituency. Moreover as the local leader, Mr.P.K.Krishnan, is still sulking over denial of ticket to him, Mr.Balakrishnan is totally dependent on the AIADMK campaign machinery.

After initial hiccups, there appears to be a semblance of coordination between the AIADMK and the TMC. And now, the former Minister, Mr. Sathiamoorthy, accompanies Mr.Balakrishnan for vote-canvassing. And, Mr.Balakrishnan makes sure to please the AIADMK bosses and cadres. At his meetings, he makes no big promises to the voters. Instead he woos the AIADMK cadres with the promise that he will march to the Raj Bhavan along with the AIADMK men, if the Governor refuses to swear in Ms. Jayalalitha next Chief Minister.

Undoubtedly, Mr. Balakrishnan has a tough fight ahead. For, his key rival, Mr.Thangavelan is a shrewd war horse. The DMK's Ramanathapuram district secretary for 15 years, he campaigns non- stop for at least 12 hours a day, besides coordinating the electioneering in the other four constituencies in the district.

As a Samajwadi Party candidate, Mr. Seik Mohammed, is contesting on `lock and key', which is the symbol for the Dalit outfit, Puthiya Tamizhagam, and the Yadava party, Makkal Tamil Desam, in other constituencies, the Dalit and Yadava voters are a bit confused.

More importantly, the Puthiya Tamizhagam cadres are not enthusiastically working for Mr.Thangavelan, though he denies it so. `` My performance besides the alliance combination will help me win comfortably,'' claims Mr.Thangavelan.

But it appears only the alliance chemistry rather than cold caste arithmetic that will decide whether the Opposition leader is returned to the Assembly for the fourth time.

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