CHENNAI: “So who will you vote for on Monday?” Bhaskar, a fish seller at Aminjikarai market, hesitates for a moment. “I haven’t decided. May be I will think of someone when I reach the booth.” After a little thought, he comes back: “Actually, the sitting councillor in my Ward has done some work in our area. He shows interest in solving our problems. May be I will vote for him again.”And what about the Mayoral candidate? Bhaskar replies, “My vote will go to Saidai Duraisamy. We know that if we elect anybody from the opposition, development works will come to a standstill. We ourselves will suffer. So, we will vote for the ruling party candidate.”Bhaskar’s innocent words reveal a tacit political consciousness that is prevalent among a large cross section of people in the city. This little fact may put the ruling AIADMK’s Mayoral candidate Saidai Duraisamy at some ease. Also, barely five months ago, the AIADMK rode to power in the State on a massive mandate. The carry-forward effect may only brighten his chances. Added to that would be the Jayalalithaa-led government’s performance in the past five months. The Chief Minister was quick to kick off several schemes that were promised during the run up to the assembly elections, including the free rice, free mixies and free laptops schemes. This would have also earned the government some brownie points.The State government’s action against land grabbing cases too is expected to bolster the ruling party’s image in the polls. Besides, the Mayoral candidate Saidai Duraisamy’s reputation as a Good Samaritan precedes him. His unique Manidhaneyam Coaching Centre, where he trains IAS and IPS aspirants to face UPSC exam for free, had a positive impact during his face off with M K Stalin in the assembly elections. Duraisamy lost the Kolathur seat to Stalin by a narrow margin of a little over 2,000 votes. Let us not forget that if he wins, Duraisamy would have created a record of being the first AIADMK Mayor of Chennai.But it may not be a cakewalk for Duraisamy. For, the DMK candidate and incumbent Mayor M Subramanian could pose a tough fight. The three times councillor has a good track record as a pro-active Mayor and will be banking on his performance in the past five years.While the contest would largely revolve around on the two Dravidian party candidates, there are other players who would play a role in the final result, like Congress candidate Saidai P Ravi. Winning perhaps would be a tall order for this three-time councillor, who was also the Opposition Leader in the Corporation Council during the current term, but the deep pockets that he enjoys in T. Nagar and Saidapet areas could well swing a few votes in his favour and turn out to be a spoiler for the Dravidian parties. The last time the Congress put up a candidate for the Mayor’s post was in 2001 when H Vasanthakumar garnered over one lakh votes.And now for the dark horse - K Velmurugan of the DMDK. The trade union leader has the tacit the backing of the Left parties and would bank on his social service background. Besides, the fledgling party is smarting from the cold shoulder treatment meted out to them by former ally AIADMK and would like to make an impression. A K Moorthy of the PMK is another known face contesting the Mayoral elections in Chennai. The former MoS Railways is yet untested in the city. It would be an interesting multi-corner contest, the biggest in the history of the Corporation.
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