Sholinganallur residents ‘meet the candidates’

Chennai: Candidates of four major parties in Sholinganallur constituency took a short break from their campaign on Saturday. Residents asked tough questions to the sitting MLA S Aravind Ramesh about unfulfilled promises, including the one of piped water supply to houses.

Other aspiring candidates were asked to give a roadmap for one of the fastest-growing constituencies in the state, which has its fair share of issues due to rapid urbanisation.


These candidates, including Aravind Ramesh, AIADMK's KP Kandan, a former MLA of Sholinganallur, TVK's ECR P Saravanamoorthy, a field worker who emerged from actor Vijay Makkal Iyakkam, and Jayalakshmi Raman, a former IT employee and NTK's candidate, came prepared to take questions from residents who are mostly employees of IT companies. The federation of OMR resident associations (FOMRRA) organised the meet-the-candidates programme.

TVK candidate Saravanamoorthy has promised a one-stop portal to deal with all the complaints from the residents of the constituency. "A resident of Sholinganallur is spending 45 minutes on the road which should take just 10 minutes due to traffic. Resolving the traffic issue and providing piped water supply are the priority for us," he said.

DMK candidate S Aravind Ramesh listed details of completed projects, including building underground sewage, laying pipes for water supply, storm water drainage systems and electric crematoriums, and the works to connect Radial Road in Thoraipakkam to East Coast Road.

"I removed toll gates in Perungudi, Thoraipakkam, Medavakkam and Sholinganallur. The traffic issue will be resolved after opening the metrorail. We also started supplying piped water to gated communities," Aravind Ramesh said.

AIADMK candidate KP Kandan said he resolved issues such as garbage collection, roads, flooding and drinking water issues during his previous tenure as MLA from 2011 to 2016. " If I am elected, I will ensure 137 litres of water for every person in this constituency," he said.

NTK's Jayalakshmi Raman said she would give priority to laying quality roads in Sholinganallur.

"We will ensure quality-free education, healthcare and water instead of freebies. We should all oppose freebies announced in the manifestos of political parties," she said.

"The gated communities got one-fourth of 5.8 lakh voters in the constituency. This will give an idea for the residents to take an informed decision before casting their vote," said Harsha Koda, co-founder of FOMRRA. Get real-time updates and result insights on the CBSE 12 Result 2026.