What is your assessment of Royapuram Assembly Constituency?

In my constituency, the voters have complained about the increase in property tax and electricity charges. The people have understood that the anti-incumbency vote against the DMK should not be wasted by not voting for the AIADMK. We will win because we have a strong voter base and we have our coalition votes. People have realised that I have been with them during their struggle; that I created housing infrastructure for original inhabitants, and developed bridges and civic infrastructure. The DMK MLA was not accessible during the last five years.

What impact does parties like the TVK and the NTK have in the course of the election campaign?

In my constituency, the voters have complained about the increase in property tax and electricity charges. The people have understood that the anti-incumbency vote against the DMK should not be wasted by not voting for the AIADMK. We will win because we have a strong voter base and we have our coalition votes. People have realised that I have been with them during their struggle; that I created housing infrastructure for original inhabitants, and developed bridges and civic infrastructure. The DMK MLA was not accessible during the last five years.

What are the expectations of the voters in your constituency?

The voters need infrastructure development, better roads, street lights, and uninterrupted power supply and water supply. As part of the smart city project, they [the DMK government] damaged M.C. Road in Royapuram, which provides a source of livelihood for over 10,000 people. They did not hold a public consultation before implementing the project. People want the project to be dropped. Once we return to power, we will drop it.

M.C. Road is an iconic location in North Chennai. The traders need a wide carriageway. More than one lakh people visit the neighbourhood during festival seasons. We will provide better infrastructure, including toilets, seating, and water supply in the commercial area, and listen to the people.

What is the likely impact of the delimitation of areas such as Kasimedu, which used to be an AIADMK stronghold on the electoral outcome?

Ward 43, formerly ward 14, is my place of birth. That ward — covering Kasimedu Harbour and Tondiarpet — used to give me additional votes. In a bid to defeat me, the delimitation exercise was used to merge the ward with Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly Constituency. But after the delimitation, the people of ward 48 and ward 53 also supported me and I won from the constituency in 2011. This election, I will get more votes in such areas.

AIADMK’s alliance with parties that are against secular values have come under attack. What is your reaction?

The AIADMK is a party that transcends caste, religion, race, and linguistic groups. For us, all are equal before the law. We will not refrain from speaking up against those who deny the rights of the minorities. The coalition is only an arrangement to contest from various constituencies ahead of elections, but our ideologies are different. The ideology of the BJP is different from that of the AIADMK. But the DMK is our common enemy, and we must defeat it.

How difficult has it been competing this election, particularly in trying to convince a section of the electors who do not trust parties in your alliance?

We have assured people that we will not support any policy decisions that will affect them. We want peace and harmony, and the rights of minorities must be protected. Voters will make a decision.

Do you really think that all your alliance partners are in the pursuit of social justice?

Every party in the alliance has its own ideology. We will not be influenced by the ideology of other parties in the alliance. But the AIADMK is determined to protect social justice, because our leaders have already proved that we are capable of protecting the interests of the weaker sections through our struggle for social justice.

During the tenure of the AIADMK in 1991-1996, Amma [Chief Minister Jayalalithaa] was given the title “Samooga Neethi Kaatha Veeranganai” by Dravidar Kazhagam president K. Veeramani when I was the Minister for Backward Classes.

When the court ordered the State government to reduce the quantum of reservation from 69% to 50%, we convened an all-party meeting and went to New Delhi seeking Constitutional protection for 69% reservation.

Amma was successful in bringing about an amendment to the Constitution to include the Act in the Ninth Schedule. Had it been the DMK government, Mr. Karunanidhi (former Chief Minister and DMK president) would have shrugged his shoulders and moved on, making no such efforts to protect social justice against the orders of the Supreme Court and High Court.