Anger over lack of water, basic amenities costs AIADMK

Chennai: Over the past five years M Aravind a resident of Sree Sarvamangala Nagar in Chitlapakkam has spent Rs450 a month to get a tractor load of water to his house - the most basic of all amenities that his household should have received free or at a nominal cost.
"Why would I vote for the AIADMK when local politicians have done nothing for us at the grassroots level? Civic problems and the complete indifference of politicians and officials were the main reason that AIADMK lost to other parties, especially the DMK, in Sholinganallur, Alandur, Pallavaram and Tambaram where they scored a duck," Aravind said on Friday, a day after the Election Commission announced the results.
Growing aspirations of voters, lack of basic infrastructure and a perennial lack of drinking water were the reasons for the AIADMK's failure to retain the city's four southern constituencies of Sholinganallur, Alandur, Pallavaram and Tambaram.
Residents of these constituencies said they were appalled at the party not helping them in the face of such glaring civic problems.
AIADMK cornered all four constituencies with ease in 2011. Poor local administration, nepotism and corruption - residents said they had to bribe officials for everything from birth certificates to building plan sanctions - in Kancheepuram district easily trumped chief minister J Jayalalithaa's brand building, freebies and Amma canteens.
More than 25 lakh voters voted in 11 Assembly segments in Kancheepuram district. In Tambaram, DMK's S R Raja trounced AIADMK's C Rajendran a former Lok Sabha Chennai MP by 14,445 votes.
AIADMK's seasoned politician Panruti S Ramachandran lost to DMK district secretary and former labour welfare minister T M Anbarasan by 19,169 votes in Alandur and DMK's S Aravind Ramesh defeated AIADMK's N Sundaram by 14,913 votes in Sholinganallur. Former Pallavaram municipal chairman E Karunanidhi defeated AIADMK's C RSaraswathi by 22,165 votes in Pallavaram.
Chromepet resident P Vasanthakumar said Pallavaram and Chrompet are fast developing localities.
"There are more than 3 lakh people in these two neighbourhoods," he said. "But they have little or no infrastructure. There is no road over bridge near the MIT. There are no small buses to these places and they do not even have an underground drainage system."