Tamil Nadu elections: Regupathy walks a tight rope in Thirumayam as slim margins haunt him

PUDUKOTTAI: For incumbent MLA and minister S Regupathy, Thirumayam has never been an easy win. He scraped through slender margins in the last two elections, and the constituency is once again shaping up for a close contest. This time, with K K Selvakumar of the Veera Mutharaiyar Munnetra Sangam, who contested as an independent in Thirumayam, allying with the DMK camp, Regupathy is banking on consolidating mutharaiyar votes to tilt the scales. However, visible anti-incumbency in several pockets could blunt that advantage.In 2021, Regupathy won by 1,382 votes, while in 2016 he secured victory by just 766 votes against AIADMK's P K Vairamuthu, a former housing board chairman and ex-MLA who is now contesting from the seat for the fourth time. In 2021, Selvakumar polled more than 15,000 votes as an independent. Now backing the DMK and contesting from Natham, he campaigned for Regupathy on Thursday. Mutharaiyars form a significant chunk of the electorate, with kallars and chettiars also present in sizeable numbers. Confident of a consolidation, Regupathy told TOI, "More than 12,000 to 13,000 of the 15,000-odd votes Selvakumar secured last time will come to me. I will win by a margin of 30,000 votes as our schemes have reached the people. If there are 100 women, 75 will vote for the DMK. AIADMK and TVK are fighting for second place."On the ground, however, there is a perception that the minister has not been as accessible as some of his counterparts, such as DMK's Alangudi MLA Meyyanathan Siva V or AIADMK's C Vijayabhaskar in Viralimalai. Earlier it was rumoured that his son Annamalai Regupathy would contest on behalf of him, but DMK sources said there was a last minute "as they did not want to experiment but wanted to make sure of the seat." Anti-incumbency is visible in interior pockets, where residents point to gaps in basic amenities such as sanitation, street lighting, drinking water and roads. A section of these voters is gravitating towards TVK, often identifying it simply as "Vijay's party" rather than by its candidate. "We lack basic facilities. On one hand, they give freebies; on the other, they increase costs like electricity tariffs. We want change," said M Saleem, 63, from Karaiyur.The AIADMK camp, too, is not entirely cohesive. A recent viral audio clip featured AMMK union secretary Vellaisamy threatening to withdraw support over inadequate payments to cadre during campaign events. Vairamuthu, however, dismissed talk of discord, saying, "The minister is not even meeting people. At his residence in Pudukottai, there is a board asking people not to approach him. He has not brought a law college or any meaningful development to Thirumayam. Few whispers here and there should not be mistaken for discord. I will win this time." With margins thin and voter sentiment mixed, Thirumayam appears headed for yet another tightly fought contest—where even a small swing could prove decisive.BOX: A tight contestWinning margins for Regupathy2016- 1,382 votes2021: 766 votesVoters: Before SIRMen –1,17,126Women- 1,23,958Total –2,41, 087After SIRMen – 1,07,006Women- 12,270Total- 2,19, 279