Giants fight for control over land’s end

With 14.77 lakh voters, Kanniyakumari is one of the two constituencies in the state to witness a key battle between the BJP and the Congress. The other seat is Sivaganga, where Karti Chidambaram of Congress will be challenging BJP’s H Raja.

In Kanniyakumari, Congress has fielded Vasantha Kumar as its candidate against BJP leader and Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan. Interestingly, both the candidates had crossed swords from the same constituency in the previous general elections in 2014 in which Radhakrishnan won by securing 3.72 lakh votes. Vasantha Kumar polled 2.44 lakh votes.

The Congress candidate is the only sitting MLA at present to contest in the April 18 Parliament election.

After the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the DMK and Congress forged an alliance for the 2016Assembly poll and won all the six Assembly segments coming under the Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha constituency.

As the district is spread along the coast, the votes of fishing community will be the deciding factor in Kanniyakumari.

The biggest challenge for the AIADMK front will be overcoming the disappointment of the fishermen population, who are not till date satisfied with the restoration and revival efforts carried out by both the governments post Ockhi cyclone in December 2017.

Justin Antony, founding president, International Fishermen Development Trust (INFIDET), said, “Even though fishermen were not happy with the BJP, they are equally unhappy with its rival national party as well. New players, including the candidates of AMMK, Naam Tamizhar Party, Makkal Needhi Maiam will also pose tough fight to the national party candidates as all of them are, connected to local fishermen in some way or the other.”

Vasantha Kumar, a popular businessman and the Indian National Congress candidate is the only sitting MLA in the state to contest the Lok Sabha polls. He unsuccessfully contested from Kanniyakumari constituency in the previous 2014 election and lost to Pon Radhakrishnan. Following the defeat in the LS poll, he contested the State Assembly election in 2016 from Nanguneri Assembly in Tirunelveli and won it. However, the party once again chose Vasantha Kumar and fielded him against the same candidate Pon Radhakrishnan in the same constituency of Kanniyakumari. Political career of Vasantha Kumar started in 2006 when he successfully contested in Nanguneri constituency.

He is a Minister in the Modi’s Union Cabinet and the BJP candidate for Kanniyakumari constituency for the 2019 LS election. He will be contesting for the eighth successive time from the same constituency and in the past, he had won twice from the LS segment. In 2014, Pon Radhakrishnan was the only BJP candidate to be elected from the state and later became the union minister. A lawyer by profession, Pon Radhakrishnan was a devoted RSS member. He is a bachelor and has devoted his life for the service of the party.