Sitting MLA takes on former MP in Alangulam

Even though contestants of four major political forces are in the fray for the April 23 polls, Alangulam, which elected former Assembly Speaker S. Chellapandian, is witnessing a keen tussle between the candidates of the ruling DMK and the AIADMK as sitting MLA takes on a former MP.

After winning the first Assembly election in Alangulam constituency in 1952, the Congress lost this segment to an independent candidate in the next election and retained it in 1962. S. Chellapandian won the election to become the Speaker when K. Kamaraj was the Chief Minister.

However, DMK’s Aladi Aruna bagged Alangulam in 1967 when the party came to power in Tamil Nadu for the first time and defended it in the next election too.

After the AIADMK was floated by MGR, the party won Alangulam in 1977. After being with the Congress for the next 10 years, the constituency was wrested by the DMK again in 1996, but the latter lost it to the AIADMK in 2001. Aladi Aruna’s daughter Poongothai won this constituency in 2006 to become Minister for Social Welfare in the M. Karunanidhi-led Cabinet.

Dr. Poongothai lost it to AIADMK’s P.G. Rajendran in 2011, but retained Alangulam again in 2016.

In the 2021 election, independent candidate A. Hari Nadar spoiled her chances by garnering 37,727 votes. She lost the election to AIADMK’s P.H. Manoj Pandian, son of former Speaker P.H. Pandian, who defected to the DMK recently to become the candidate again on DMK’s ticket for the April 23 polls. Mr. Manoj Pandian has to take on AIADMK’s Prabhakaran, former Tirunelveli MP, besides NTK and TVK candidates.

As the entry of Mr. Manoj Pandian into the DMK effectively spoiled the chances of Dr. Poongothai becoming the DMK candidate for Alangulam again, she tried her best to be fielded in Tenkasi, where the ruling party chose to nominate DMK office-bearer ‘Anbagam’ Kalai’s son Kalai Kathiravan, a medical professional.

Even though literacy rate in this constituency has gone up considerably over the years and the educationally qualified youth are leaving for other areas for employment, their parents are still languishing in beedi rolling industry, which has been a prime livelihood for the women in this dry area even today, while vegetables and flower cultivation augments this rural constituency’s economy to some extent.

“Since the beedi rollers are suffering from a range of ailments, the government should launch a rehabilitation programme to take them to another industry ensuring decent earnings. The tailoring units introduced here with a few well-trained women from Alangulam area should be expanded,” says Ramalingam of Alangulam, an entrepreneur.

Even though Alangulam and its surroundings produce a huge quantity of vegetables and flowers with well water, this region lacks proper storage facility that causes a huge loss to the farmers whenever production exceeds demand.

Another major issue this constituency faces is uncontrollable quarrying of stones which are transported to Kerala in heavy trucks. Consequently, groundwater table in the already dry region has gone down alarmingly, affecting vegetable cultivation. Despite repeated appeals from the public and conservationists, the official machinery was in no mood to control the looting of the natural wealth.

Only after two youth, who were agitated over the large quantities of stones mined through illegal quarrying being transported in heavy trucks that damage rural roads, lobbed a petrol bomb on a truck seriously injuring the driver, the district administration took action to regularise this business. However, the plundering of the natural resource continues and licences for quarrying stones were issued even in February last.

“Since groundwater table has gone down menacingly due to the illegal stone mining, the government should take measures to improve availability of water for irrigation. Since Gadana and Ramanadhi dams ensure decent quantity of water for irrigation in a part of Alangulam constituency, they should be desilted as it was not done for the past 40 years. Moreover, the dead Ramanadhi – Jambunadhi elevated channel project should be revived,” says S. Muruganandam, a trader from Alangulam.