Premalatha’s challenge is to re-establish Captain’s legacy

Virudhachalam constituency hogged the limelight for the first time in the 2006 Assembly election when Vijayakant contested his first-ever election and was elected to the Assembly. The constituency, which is lying in the PMK belt due to the majority of Vanniyar community votes, slipped into the hands of DMDK for which PMK leader Ramadoss expressed his anguish against DMDK on several occasions.

Though Vijayakant moved to Rishivandiyam constituency in 2011, Virudhachalam continued to remain the fortress of DMDK until the 2016 election, when V Muthukumar lost the battle.

As Vijayakant is not contesting this election due to his health issues, Premalatha has taken the mantle to lead the party. Like 2006, DMDK is going to face PMK in the AIADMK alliance. But the real battle will be against Congress candidate Radhakrishnan, a local landowning Zamindar.

Though the Vanniyar community plays a major role in Virudhachaam, the town has more than one lakh votes of other communities, which was one of the reasons for Vijayakant’s victory in 2006. Similarly, on the western side of the constituency, Yadava and Udayar community population are in sizeable numbers, which would swing the tide in favour of Congress candidate, as TNCC president KS Alagiri can influence the Yadava community votes.

Similarly, the presence of a large number of Dalits and Muslims is an added advantage for the DMK-Congress-VCK alliance.

Virudhachalam, by itself, is a large town and promises were made in the past to make it a separate district as people from Thozhuthur and Thittakudi have to travel for more than 110 kilometres to reach Cuddalore, the district headquarters. Similarly, the government hospital in Virudhachalam has been in bad shape and residents have been seeking immediate attention of administrators. As far as the economy of the constituency is concerned, agriculture is the primary occupation. Even as the AIADMK had promised to set up a cashew factory, it has not been established so far.