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“Naan vandhutennu sollu, thirumbi vandhutennu”
(Inform them I’ve come, that I’ve come again)
T.T.V. Dhinakaran may nicely be mouthing this standard Rajinikanth dialogue from his 2016 blockbuster Kabali, the place the famous person’s character declares his return to his homeland after 25 years. Dhinakaran, too, hopes to return as MP from Theni in Tamil Nadu after 1 / 4 of a century. He was elected as MP in 1999 from present-day Theni (which was Periyakulam earlier than delimitation), although he misplaced from right here in 2004.
Rather a lot has modified within the final 25 years. Then, he was the blue-eyed boy of the late J. Jayalalithaa. At this time, he’s the chief of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK). He has hitched his wagon to the Nationwide Democratic Alliance (NDA) after having parted methods with the AIADMK.
Previous Ties
Pitted in opposition to Dhinakaran is Thanga Tamilselvan of the DMK. Each was within the AIADMK as soon as, and it was Dhinakaran who had launched Tamilselvan to Jayalalithaa and aunt Sasikala, who managed the celebration equipment again then. In 2001, he was given the ticket to contest from the Andipatti meeting seat. Tamilselvan endeared himself to Jayalalithaa when he resigned as Andipatti legislator a yr later to make approach for the AIADMK supremo in a bypoll. This was after Jayalalithaa was cleared of fees in a corruption case in December 2001 and wanted to grow to be an MLA to stay chief minister. After a stint within the Rajya Sabha, Tamilselvan returned to characterize Andipatti in 2011 and 2016.
Dhinakaran and Tamilselvan had been collectively until not so way back. After Jayalalithaa’s loss of life in December 2016, Tamilselvan stood with Dhinakaran and contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Theni as a candidate of the AMMK, the celebration floated by the latter. He completed third behind the AIADMK and the Congress.
How do the friends-turned-foes match up in opposition to one another right this moment?
What Works – And Does not – For Dhinakaran
Dhinakaran is being referred to as an `outsider’ by his political opponents however has the benefit of being seen because the foremost chief among the many Mukulathor or Thevars, the group that dominates this belt. Conventional AIADMK supporters are indignant that Edappadi Palaniswami has turned the celebration from a Thevar-dominated organisation until just a few years in the past to a Gounder celebration, the group Edappadi Okay. Palaniswami hails from. The celebration not has house for Thevar leaders like Dhinakaran, V.Okay. Sasikala and O. Panneerselvam (OPS).
Dhinakaran additionally has the popularity of being beneficiant with donations to temples and group buildings like faculties. These are gestures that matter as a result of, come election time, these grow to be IOUs. Dhinakaran can also be utilizing the Narendra Modi card to the hilt, speaking of goodies that would come the constituency’s approach ought to it elect him.
Theni, by the way, was the one seat the NDA may bag in Tamil Nadu in 2019. P. Raveendranath, son of O. Panneerselvam, was the profitable candidate. The daddy-son duo is backing Dhinakaran this time. OPS, because the story goes, was launched to Jayalalithaa by Dhinakaran.
What may show a problem for Dhinakaran although is his celebration image. He has to not solely be sure that the 15 lakh voters in Theni constituency recognise his strain cooker image, however he additionally is aware of that for the Tamil Nadu voter, there’s a sentimental attachment to the 2 leaves or the rising solar. The NDA is banking on Dhinakaran to plug all gaps, significantly the mobilisation of voters on the sales space degree, given his expertise of getting supervised a number of elections throughout his AIADMK years.
Tamilselvan’s Strengths
Alternatively, Tamilselvan has the backing of the highly effective DMK equipment and the good thing about straightforward identification with the rising solar image. He also can evoke sympathy for his defeat within the final election. Like Dhinakaran, Tamilsevan, too, is from the Mukulathor group and has dealt with a number of elections. In actual fact, he managed the Andipatti constituency for Jayalalithaa.
The darkish horse can be the AIADMK. What would work to the benefit of V.T. Narayanasamy, the AIADMK candidate, is that the two-leaf image is undeniably the preferred on this constituency, which has all the time been an AIADMK stronghold. Many celebration loyalists might blindly go for it with out doing a micro-analysis of the credentials of any of the candidates. In addition to, Narayanasamy is an old-timer within the AIADMK and has his personal help base.
A victory for Dhinakaran from Theni may begin a contemporary spherical of consolidation round him of the Thevar group, which has been feeling unnoticed within the political wilderness. From the curler coaster journey from Periyakulam, the mercurial ties with celebration chief Jayalalithaa, and a historic win from her constituency RK Nagar in 2017, to bribery accusation for getting the AIADMK image, time in Tihar Jail, launching the AMMK, and a rout at Kovilpatti in 2021, Dhinakaran, if he does handle to return as Theni MP this election, could have come a great distance, and a full circle.
(Uma Sudhir is Government Editor, NDTV)
Disclaimer: These are the non-public opinions of the creator.
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