A Day In Tamil Nadu's Tirunelveli, Where BJP's Nainar Nagendran Is Trying To Go From Being An MLA To MP

The Tirunelveli Lok Sabha constituency, located in southern Tamil Nadu, near Kanyakumari, has garnered considerable attention due to the candidature of Nainar Nagendran from the BJP.

Nagendran is currently the MLA from Tirunelveli and had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections for the BJP from Ramanathapuram. He was in the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) earlier and was in-charge of important ministries like Electricity, Industries and Transport between 2001-06.

He is the only candidate belonging to the Thevar communities from the major parties in the fray. While the Congress has fielded Robert Bruce from the Christian Nadar community, the AIADMK has fielded M Jansi Rani, a woman from the Hindu Nadar community. Both Thevars and Nadars are present in significant numbers in the constituency.

Tirunelveli comprises six assembly constituencies — Alangulam, Tirunelveli, Ambasamudram, Palayamkottai, Nanguneri and Radhapuram. 

While three of them were won by the NDA in 2021 (which then included the AIADMK), the others were won by the DMK-Congress combine.

The Lok Sabha seat was won by the DMK-Congress combine in 2019 and 2009. The AIADMK won the seat in 2014.

According to the 2011 Census, Tirunelveli has a population of 69 per cent Hindus, 20.02 per cent Muslims and 10.59 per cent Christians, making the minority vote an important factor.

Arriving in Tirunelveli, I reached the office of Nagendran’s son, Balaji. 

Balaji is also involved with the campaign and was in the thick of action that morning. A number of party members had come to meet him and share details about the situation in their areas.

“Don’t hesitate to tell me if we are not doing well in an area, we must strategise accordingly,” Balaji told them with all seriousness. 

While some members said that the party was doing well in their areas, others said that people wanted him or Nagendran to come to their village to campaign, or requested for campaign vehicles like autos or vans. 

Balaji would listen to them patiently and decide on the action that needed to be taken.

After some time, he turned to me and said, “I hope you did not get bored. My father is out for campaigning in Nanguneri. So you can meet him only in the afternoon when he returns home.”

“Not at all,” I said. I had actually been keenly observing how a campaign has to be coordinated at the micro-level.

While Balaji soon resumed his meetings, I spoke to people around him.

C Karthick Raja, who works with Balaji, gave me a good brief about Nagendran and Tirunelveli. 

Beginning the discussion, I asked, what made Nagendran shift to the BJP from the AIADMK?

“I am often asked this question,” said Raja with a smile.

“Nagendran was close to Jayalalithaa. He got unhappy with the directionless nature of the party after her demise. He was also impressed by the work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. So he decided to join the BJP in 2017.”

“He is confident of his abilities and has had vast organisational experience. In 2019, he was asked to contest from Ramanathapuram, a constituency with which he does not have much connection. He still got more than 2.5 lakh votes. And this was a time when the BJP was not as strong as it is now.”

What’s working for him this time? How confident are you of a victory, I ask.

“Of the three candidates, Nagendran is the most well known face. He is also the incumbent MLA from Tirunelveli. The Congress candidate was declared just a few days before the nomination and he is not from this district. The AIADMK candidate Jansi Rani, from Radhapuram, has been a town panchayat president. People are not satisfied with those two candidates.

“Also Nagendran has a base of his own. We are sure that he would get votes from supporters of other parties also.”

Continuing the conversation, I asked Raja, In 2019, the DMK contested from the seat. What made it give the seat to the Congress? Was it anti-incumbency?

“Anti-incumbency and also infighting. The DMK MP S Gnanathiraviam earned a bad name for himself due to his alleged involvement in illegal mining. He wasn't seen much in the constituency as well."

“Within the DMK, two groups were vying for the seat. Speaker M Appavu wanted the seat for his son. At the same time another leader Graham Bell also wanted to contest from here. If either of them got the seat, the other group would not have worked for the victory of the other and so the DMK probably thought it would be better to give it to the Congress.”

Manikantan, a social worker who leads an organisation called ‘Thai Tamil Arakattalai,’ had come to meet Balaji and said, “Apart from the BJP vote, Nagendran has a base of his own. “Supporters of DMK-Congress and AIADMK, who are unhappy with their candidates are also likely to vote for him.”

He added that he liked Nagendran because he had helped his trust in its charitable work like helping people meet their medical expenses or pay their education fees, irrespective of whether he was in power or not.

I then met S Joshua from Manjolai, who is in charge of four booths. Mentioning that he is a Christian, he stated that Nagendran was receiving support of Christians and Muslims too. 

A party member who did not wish to be named said, “We have support from all major groups. Apart from support from Thevars, there is also support from Hindu Nadars, Pillais and the Devendra Kula Vellalar (DKV) community because the Modi government fulfilled their long pending demand on unifying a number of sub-castes.

“Pillais, an upper caste group, are happy with the introduction of the EWS quota,” he added.

After a while, I left the office for Nagendran’s home, which was a few kilometres away from the office. I was told that I could speak to him just before he left for the next leg of his campaign in Ambasamudram.

At his home, I met David Benita, who runs a local news company called Race TV. How do you see the elections here? I asked.

“I don’t see the DMK-Congress combine working hard. Infighting and unhappiness with Bruce seem to have affected them. The AIADMK is working hard but their candidate is not well known. Overall, I see Nagendran having a good chance of winning. He is getting a good response during his campaigns.”

A while later, I joined Nagendran in his car on the way for his evening campaign. We were accompanied by his assistant Subramanian and a few other party members.

The campaign was to be similar to what I had seen in Kanyakumari, i.e., travelling in an open jeep and stopping at various points to address the people.

How's it looking a couple of weeks into the campaign?

There is a good response from people. I am getting a warm welcome.

Do you see any difference from 2019?

In 2019, I contested from Ramanathapuram. This time I am contesting from Tirunelveli, which is a seat that I am currently representing in the state assembly.

When it comes to what’s different on the ground, I think the schemes of the Modi government such as PM Awas, Jal Jeevan, Ujjwala, PM Kisan etc have got cemented in the minds of the people. Jal Jeevan is what has made a large number of people happy as there are issues with the drinking water supply.

They have understood that these are centrally funded schemes and not state government-funded schemes. There is no anti-Modi narrative. 

Any other factor apart from the schemes?

Yes. Our government has given much more funds to the state than the UPA government. There are two Vande Bharat trains, with one terminating in Tirunelveli. Upgradation work like airport expansion and extension of the runway in the Thoothukudi airport is also being done.

What are some of the things that you would like to do if elected as an MP?

I would like to create jobs for the youth at the Nanguneri Special Economic Zone (SEZ) by bringing a variety of manufacturing industries. Public-private partnership (PPP) is one of the investment models that I am pushing for.

A lot of lemon is grown here. But we do not have proper cold storage facilities and because of that farmers are not able to take advantage of higher prices in summer. Along with a cold storage, we would like to set up food processing units.

We are also planning to set up a religious tourism circuit here that would connect Tirunelveli’s Nellaiyyapar temple at the centre with Courtrallam in the west and Nava Tirupati in the east.

Looking back at your tenure as the MLA from 2021, what do you think are your top achievements?

I would say getting an arts and science college in Manur, construction or repairs of several local roads and bridges and the kumbhabhishekams of several temples.

Many political observers say that the DMK-Congress is an unbeatable combination. What’s your take on that?

That we’ll see after the counting.

Tirunelveli was one of the districts that were severely affected by the heavy rains in southern Tamil Nadu last year and the DMK government says that the Centre has not given an adequate amount as flood relief. Are people here unhappy with the BJP because of that?

What the people are unhappy with is the response of the DMK government, which is in power here. The issue with the DMK government is that they keep asking for more money without giving proof of how they have utilised the money that has been granted.

Do you see caste issues playing a role during the elections? Nanguneri was witness to a brutal attack on a couple of schoolchildren belonging to the Scheduled Castes.

Not as much as before. People from all castes are supporting the BJP.

By then we arrived at Brahmadesam village, which was the first spot for the evening’s campaign. 

Nagendran was welcomed by a crowd of supporters on his arrival. Soon after, he boarded an open jeep to address them.

The messaging was local. Issues like drinking water and school education were addressed. He was also realistic with his promises. Regarding the demand for some facilities in a school, he said that it may be possible only in the subsequent academic year.

Our next stop was at an Ayya Koil.

Ganesh Kumar, a BJP member said, “The Ayyavazhi sect started by Ayya Vaikundar has a large presence here. People belonging to the sect have often supported us. One of their leaders here has been campaigning for us.”

Back in a car which was following Nagendran’s jeep, I met K Gopalsamy, a former AIADMK MLA from Rajapalayam (in Tenkasi Lok Sabha constituency), who is now with the BJP. 

“I am here to contribute to Nagendran’s campaign. We both go a long way. Myself, Nagendran and O Panneerselvam (OPS) were all appointed by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa as district youth wing secretaries around the same time.”

Will Nainar Nagendran get the Tirunelveli halwa this time? I asked. (The city is famous for its halwa made of wheat, sugar and ghee)

“As someone who has closely seen the effort being put in by him, I am pretty sure that he will win. There is a wish among supporters to see him as a minister in the central government. He would then be able to do much more to transform this area for the better. Southern Tamil Nadu has been lagging behind other regions for a long time. We need a change.”

As the convoy reached Ambasamudram town, while on the way to another village, I bid goodbye to Nagendran’s team and returned to Tirunelveli.

Also Read: A Day On The Campaign Trail With BJP's Pon Radhakrishnan In Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari

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