Perambur, Assembly Constituency No. 12, is a thickly populated urban seat in North Chennai dominated by working‑class and lower‑middle‑class neighbourhoods. Its growth and character have been closely linked to the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), railway colonies and long‑standing residential areas. With deep roots in organised labour, public‑sector jobs and self‑constructed housing, Perambur’s politics is shaped more by day‑to‑day civic performance and livelihood security than by personality‑centric leadership. Persistent local issues include flooding during the monsoon season, poor condition of interior and neighbourhood roads, inconsistent drinking water supply, traffic congestion on major roads, gaps in solid waste management, overcrowding in government schools and hospitals, pollution along railway lines and arterial road corridors, ageing water and sewer pipelines, encroachment of stormwater drains, shortage of green and open spaces, safety concerns at railway level crossings and lack of organised parking facilities coupled with the need for stronger coordination between railway authorities and civic bodies. In the 2021 Assembly elections, DMK’s R. D. Shekar won the Perambur seat with 1,05,267 votes, defeating AIADMK’s N.R. Dhanapalan, who secured 50,291 votes, by a margin of 54,976 votes. Earlier, in the 2016 polls, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s P. Vetrivel won the constituency with 79,974 votes, defeating DMK’s N.R. Dhanapalan, who secured 79,455 votes, by a narrow margin of 519 votes.