Union of worried ministers

In the hotly contested poll arena in Tamil Nadu,delimitation has thrown in an element of uncertainty,forcing prominent candidates to look for new avenues....

In the hotly contested poll arena in Tamil Nadu,delimitation has thrown in an element of uncertainty,forcing prominent candidates to look for new avenues to return to the thick of business at the national capital.

Union Shipping and Transport Minister and senior DMK leader T R Baalu was one of the first to shift base,after delimitation carved out a significant portion of the constituency that he represented four times. Over the past few years,Baalu had nurtured his constituency,both as a minister and as an MP,allotting bridges,roads and subways for his South Chennai electorate. However,after delimitation,three Assembly segments have been shifted to the nearby Sriperumbudur constituency,and Baalu has decided to follow his voters.

The senior DMK leaders decision to contest from Sriperumbudur in the coming elections has almost been decided,but for protests from a section of the Congress,the DMK ally in the state and Centre. Like Shakti Sthal in Delhi,Sriperumbudur is a symbolic place for local Congress cadre,as it became associated with the martyrdom of Rajiv Gandhi since his assassination in 1991.

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A small group of Congress workers had taken up this demand,raising slogans about the partys emotional ties with the constituency. Party leaders at the state level have not downplayed the sentiments,though they have not yet taken up the issue vociferously.

Union IT and Telecom Minister A Raja is another candidate who is looking for a different constituency,though delimitation is not the only reason. Rajas Perambalur constituency has been taken out of the list of reserved constituencies and the DMK leader is said to be eyeing Nilgiris,a constituency declared reserved recently. In any case,Perambalur constituency is not the same as five years ago,losing as many as four out of six Assembly segments to the neighbouring constituency.

Union Ministers S Raghupati,Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan and Radhika Selvi have all suffered as their constituencies have become non-existent after the exercise. Raghupatis Pudukottai,Subbulakshmis Tiruchengode and Radhikas Thiruchendur constituencies have been replaced with new ones. Sources said some of these leaders had decided not to seek tickets again while some others would be axed to introduce new faces to buck any anti-incumbency wave.

Union Minister P Chidambaram,too,has his own share of troubles after the re-drawing of constituency maps,though how it will affect the final outcome is not clear yet. A section of voters from both Pudukottai and Ramanathapuram constituencies have been added to his new electorate while he has lost a sizable number of voters from his Sivagangai constituency.

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Delimitation coupled with recession has become the immediate curse of Union Textiles Minister EVKS Elangovan. His constituency Gobichettipalayam has been replaced with the new constituency,Tirupur an area with a large number of textile workers seriously affected by the global slowdown. Newly formed Erode in the neighbourhood is said to be an option for the Congress leader.

Delimitation,a procedural chore during peacetime,has become an interesting element in the coming elections,making psephological predictions a more risky affair in Tamil Nadu.