Star constituency to see a battle royale between doctor & actor

GROUND ZERO THOUSAND LIGHTS

Star constituency to see a battle royale between doctor & actor

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:  25.03.2021 

Thousand Lights constituency, where DMK supremo M K Stalin recorded a hat-trick, is now the venue of a doctor-versus-actor tussle.

While actor-turned-politician Khushbu Sundar’s ‘Lotus’ dance to popularise her poll symbol has gone viral on social media, her opponent Dr Ezhilan is sticking to door-to-door canvassing. In terms of star value, this constituency is next only to Chepauk. Khushbu’s eleventhhour nomination by the BJP took everybody by surprise, as the national party had only a few months ago received into its fold the DMK’s sitting MLA Ku Ka Selvam. Earlier there were rumours that Khushbu might be fielded against Udhayanidhi in Chepauk, and visuals of Khushbu’s roadshow in that constituency only added fuel to the story.

Khusbu seems to be in no mood to miss out on this opportunity. Right from the day of her nomination, her rallies have attracted crowds. But the larger question is whether or not it will be converted into votes. The BJP is confident that her popularity and star value will be of great help here. Besides, they also pin hope on that the fact that the minority population at Thounsand Lights area might support Khushbu. Around 10% of the voters are Muslims.

Maulana Ghulam Mohammed Mehdi Khan, Chief Qazi at the Thounsand Lights Mosque, however, said, “Though there has been no major disturbance to communal harmony here so far, we are skeptical about some of the changes proposed by parties in power now.”

It is a loaded statement, indicating that it would take Khushbu much more than a dance-andcharm campaign to breach the DMK bastion. The DMK has won nine of the 15 assembly elections here and Stalin three elections between 1996 and 2006.

The party’s present candidate Dr Ezhilan is the son of N Naganathan, renowned academic and former vice-chairman of the state planning commission. Ezhilan, who gained prominence through his relief work during the 2015 floods, Covid outbreak and protests against NEET and NRC, has assured the electorate that he would improve the living standard of every resident by developing housing board settlements, schools, hospitals and decongesting roads. “There is an urgent need to develop entrepreneurial skills of youngsters at Thousand Lights constituency, which has hundreds of small-scale enterprises like textile shops and printing presses,” he said. Resident welfare associations here say that MLA Ku Ka Selvam’s limited availability and absence of corporation ward councillors made their lives more difficult.

For instance, Greater Chennai Corporation had proposed to construct an elevated corridor from Sterling Road junction to Nelson Manickam Road to reduce congestion on Choolaimedu’ High Road. But till date, it hasn’t materialised and there letters sent to all stakeholders went unanswered, said Kasturi Rangan from Choolaimedu Exnora.