30 to 49 age group voters will decide MLA of this ‘workers’ constituency

The seat became vacant in 2019 after the speaker P Dhanapal disqualified AMMK strongman P Vettrivel. In the 2019 by-poll, DMK candidate RD Sekar won the by-elections and was fielded again by the DMK.

“Kodungaiyur, Ganesapuram, MR Nagar, Sharma Nagar, Erukanchery, RV Nagar, Grace Nagar are also congested pockets with lower-middle income group. Vysarpadi, Perambur, Thulainsgham street, MKB Nagar have slum pockets with unchecked civic woes, ” said John Britto, a retired school teacher stating that the constituency has not witnessed any major development. The Perambur flyover constructed some ten years back is located in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar constituency and there is a need for more bridges to address the traffic woes.

“Forty per cent of voters in the age group of 30 to 49 years will play the crucial role in electing the MLA of the labour dominated Perambur Assembly constituency. For the past two decades 55 per cent of this population in the age group of 30 to 49 years have been the deciding factor in Perambur polls, ” said a poll official quoting the Election Commission data. “As per the estimates of the 2011 Census, out of a total 3,59,439 population, 0% is rural and 100% is urban population. The Scheduled castes (SC) and Scheduled tribes (ST) ratio are 23.07 and 0.16, respectively out of the total population. Muslim and Christian voters to be estimated around 6 to 8 per cent of total electorates,” the official said adding minorities have also been voting in large numbers helping the constituency to do better with poll per cent when compared to the adjacent Harbour and Egmore constituencies.

The constituency with a voter population of 3.15 lakh voters continues to be an eyesore with civic issues. “The high-profile seat in Chennai will witness a five-corner contest between the candidates and the ruling AIADMK had fielded the alliance leader NR Dhanapalan, creating some dissent inside the ruling pary. However, after the intervention of Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, the AIADMK workers have started working in full swing and we are confident doing better than the DMK,” said a former AIADMK councillor.