In the fight of his life as he tries to lead his party back to power,  AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami is expecting to win a sixth time from his native constituency that has lent itself to his name. Farming is a major occupation of the people of the constituency, which is located 50 km from Salem city. It covers Edappadi taluk, a portion of Mettur taluk, Konganapuram, Nangavalli and Jalakandapuram town panchayats. Weavers live in a sizeable number in these town panchayats.

The DMK won here in 1967 and 1971. Thereafter, the AIADMK has won seven times, out of which Mr. Palaniswami has won five times. He lost twice to the PMK in 1996 and 2006. The PMK won in 2001 as well. The Congress has won twice, on its own in 1952, and as part of the AIADMK-led alliance in 1984.

As in any other constituency, the people have their long-pending demands. S. Jayaraman, of Poolampatti, said, “Farmers in and around  Poolampatti want a bridge across the Cauvery to connect Poolampatti  in Salem to Nerinjipettai in Erode district. At present, a boat service is available. If a bridge for 1 km is constructed across the river, the people can avoid travelling 22 km by bus. Recently, officials did a site visit, but no action was taken.”

A. Muthusamy, a farmer, said sugar cane is grown on more than 500 acres and the government should announce that sugar cane would be distributed to ration card-holders every year and it should procure the sugar cane at the right time. Owing to the delay in the announcement, farmers are selling sugar cane to middlemen at low prices, he pointed out.

R. Thambaiyah, a resident of Nangavalli, said that for the past few years, the number of buses plying from Jalakandapuram to villages like  Soorapalli, Norachivalavu, Ariyampatti, Pappathikadu, and Chinnanur has come down. More buses should be operated. Likewise, to reach Mettur  from Jalakandapuram through Vanavasi, Sanarpatti, and Moolakadu, road-laying is under way at a slow pace. If this road is laid, a distance of around eight km will be reduced from Jalakandapuram to Mettur. Now, people are travelling 26 km to reach Mettur, he said.

Demanding proper implementation of the Cauvery surplus water scheme (100-lake scheme), P. Narayanan, a resident of Nangavalli, said that under AIADMK rule, the first phase of the scheme was implemented. At present, 20 tanks and lakes were yet to receive water under the scheme, he said.

G. Aravind, a resident of Jalakandapuram, said an oil company laid a gas pipeline from Jalakandapuram to Nangavalli near the highway. Even after the laying of the pipeline was completed, the pits dug for the project were not closed properly and the Department of Highways did not do the patch work. So accidents take place, he alleged.

Following the rejection of TVK candidate M. Arunkumar’s nomination on Tuesday, the constituency is witnessing a three-cornered fight.  DMK candidate C. Kasi and NTK candidate Priyadharshini are contesting against Mr. Palaniswami, the AIADMK’s chief ministerial candidate. The DMK expects the welfare schemes to bring in the votes automatically. As the money for sugar cane procured for the Pongal gift hampers was paid into farmers’ accounts directly, it expects the support of more farmers.

The AIADMK is upbeat. Now that the PMK is in the alliance, local leaders expect the PMK votes to go to the AIADMK. When it contested alone in 1996, the PMK polled 49,465 votes, and 56,681 votes in 2016. With the PMK by its side, the AIADMK leadership is confident that Mr. Palaniswami would win by a huge margin as he did in 2021 (93,802 votes).

His record as an MLA has not been in question. However, apart from registering a huge victory, Mr. Palaniswami has the humongous task of leading the AIADMK back to power on its own to silence his critics.