Tamil Nadu polls: South Chennai constituencies take centre stage as Assembly elections near

It's a game of musical chairs in South Chennai. No party has won more than two consecutive terms here, barring T Nagar, in the past two decades. The DMK seeks to buck the trend in Saidapet, Alandur, Pallavaram, Tambaram and Sholinganallur. But, the entry of Vijay's TVK has added more players to the scramble for seats when the music stops.

The population in these constituencies is growing fast — the new entrants are a mix of techies, residents of gated communities on OMR, and middle-class families who have shifted near new transport hubs in Tambaram and Kilambakkam from other districts. The DMK is apparently wary of allotting seats here to its allies as it does not want TVK to gain a foothold in these areas, which have a lot of techies and youth. However, Congress does not want to give up Velachery constituency, which it won in 2021, and DMDK has laid claim to Virugambakkam, from where it won in 2011 in alliance with Jayalalithaa's AIADMK.

Two ministers - Ma Subramanian and T M Anbarasan - are likely to contest from Saidapet and Alandur respectively. Many voters speak highly of the two citing a slew of projects, including stormwater drains, that have been brought in. They also earn praise for addressing traffic congestion and other civic complaints.

Last time, the city's commercial hub, T Nagar, witnessed a closely-fought election, with J Karunanithi beating AIADMK's B Sathyanarayanan by just 137 votes. In the following years, the govt built a 1.2km-long steel bridge in T Nagar, a pedestrian skywalk connecting the railway station with the bus terminus, and undertook stormwater drainage work to avoid flooding during monsoon.

"Despite the construction of a skywalk and extension of the Usman Road flyover towards CIT Nagar to decongest the area, there has been little respite. Residents are not taken on board when development projects are planned," said V S Jayaraman from T Nagar Residents Welfare Association.

What were once known as suburbs of Chennai are now forming the core of the city as it expands up to Mamallapuram on ECR and OMR, and beyond Chengalpet on GST Road. Federation of OMR Residents Associations (FOMRRA) is trying to raise voter awareness in gated communities at Madhya Kailash and Mamallapuram. "Of the 5.8 lakh voters in Sholinganallur constituency, more than 1.5 lakh are from gated communities. A majority of them are IT employees and people from affluent backgrounds. We are trying to set up poll booths inside the apartment complexes that house more than 1,000 voters," said Harsha Koda, co-founder of FOMRRA.

On OMR, the state govt had launched many new projects, including a global sports city at Semmencherry. However, the core demands of the residents, including piped water supply, underground sewerage and a better road network, remain unresolved.

South Chennai is, however, for poor voter turnout. "That's mainly because of the lack of options for the people. We can expect better polling this time with the arrival of TVK. However, whether the surge in votes would win seats for them, we have to wait and see. Considering the anti-incumbency factor, DMK may field some new candidates," said professor Bernard D' Sami from Loyola Institute of Social Science Research and Training Institute.