DMK strongman out of action, rivals eye Karur takeover

Integrated textile park, new train service to Chennai, highway from Kovai to Tiruchy via Karur storage facilities for agri products are key demands

- ARAVIND RAJ

IN 2019, S Jothimani (48) was elected from the Karur constituency with a whopping margin of 4.2 lakh votes over AIADMK veteran M Thambidurai. The architect of her stupendous victory in a seat she'd lost in the past was V Senthil Balaji, DMK's local strongman.

Five years later, Balaji is behind bars in a money-laundering case while the Congress spokesper son is battling strong anti-incumbency local cadres of her own party resisted her candidature from the seat. In Balaji's absence, his foes - AIADMK's MR Vijayabaskar, a heavyweight in his own right, and BJP's state chief K Annamalai who hails from here - are hoping to breach the Karur fortress.

However, Balaji's aides and associates are going all out to ensure Jothimani's victory, by following the jailed MLA's playback from 2019 and targeting rural and minorities and convincing them to vote for the DMK alliance.

The Karur parliamentary constituency is unique in that it comprises assembly segments from four different districts: Aravakurichi, Karur and Krishnarayapuram (SC) in Karur, Vedasandur in Dindigul, Manapparai in Tiruchy and Viralimalai in Pudukkottai districts.