Athoor Assembly constituency in Dindigul district has remained a DMK bastion for about two decades now. Senior DMK leader I. Periyasamy has won from the Athoor Assembly constituency a total of six times, of which four of them have been consecutively from the 2006 Assembly election to the 2021 Assembly election.

In the 2026 Assembly election, Mr. Periyasamy, the incumbent MLA, will battle it out against the AIADMK’s A. Viswanathan. Also in the fray are A. Simon Justin of the Naam Tamilar Katchi and N. Kalaiselvi of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, Mr. Periyasamy had secured 72.60 % of the votes polled in the Athoor Assembly constituency. He secured a total of 1,65,809 votes and defeated the PMK’s M. Thilagabama who secured the second highest votes, a total of 30,238 votes, which was 13.24 % of the votes polled in Athoor Assembly constituency.

The victory margin was a whopping 1,35,571 votes. This was one of the highest margins of victory recorded in the 2021 Assembly elections. The consecutive victories show that Mr. Periyasamy has consistently earned the support of the people of the Athoor Assembly constituency. However, there were key demands of the people of the region that needed to be fulfilled.

Farmer leader S. Fathima Rajarathinam said the Athoor Assembly constituency was lacking in education, finance and employment opportunities. The region was a rain-shadow region. It was facing water shortage and groundwater depletion, he said.

He said the water from Kamarajar dam in Athoor was the main source of drinking water for the wards in Dindigul Corporation and other areas. It should be ensured that all places in Athoor also get regular water from the Kamarajar dam and River Vaigai for both agricultural and drinking water purposes for the benefit of farmers. The waterbodies in the region should be revived, he added.

The residents said Kamarajar dam also needs to be maintained properly by the authorities. Wild growth on the premises should be removed on a war footing. Establishment of parks and the beautification of the place by conserving nature will boost tourism and revenue generation, they said.

There was a need for more government run educational institutions in the region. With the region lacking in industries and industrial clusters, the youth were moving out of the region for a better employment opportunity, Mr. Rajarathinam said.

Another major issue that was plaguing the Athoor Assembly constituency was that of the plight of the weavers of Chinnalapatti. The major demand of the weavers was the establishment of an integrated textile park with dyeing units and treatment plants.

T.K. Srinivasan, a weaver from Athoor, said several factors including environmental concerns had led to the decline of the weaving industry in the region. Many people had left the place in search of better employment opportunities, he said.

However, this situation could be reversed by the government by setting up a state of the art textile park along with treatment plants. There would be no pollution. If implemented, Athoor had the scope to develop into a place like Tiruppur, he said, adding that the famous Sungudi saris were being exported and had a growing global market.

The people said coconut was widely grown in the region. Agro based industries will benefit the farmers of the region. Coconut value-added products could be produced on a large scale and the products could be exported, they said, adding that adequate number of cold storage facilities would help the farmers preserve their produce and also the rates could be maintained.

Some of the other demands of the people of the Athoor Assembly constituency include the need for better roads particularly in the interior pockets of the Assembly constituency, the people said.