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Coimbatore is one of the few constituencies in Tamil Nadu where national and state politics intersect. This industrial hub in the foothills of the Western Ghats has traditionally been an ADMK stronghold. But thanks to a large number of migrants from north India, national parties like BJP, Congress and Left also have a presence here.
BJP considers Coimbatore its favourite turf, counting heavily on the sizeable north Indian population, who it hopes are supporters of PM Narendra Modi.Add to that the decades-old communal polarisation, a fissure that appeared after the 1998 serial blasts targeting BJP’s LK Advani. All these factors may have led BJP to field its state president, 39-year-old former IPS officer K Annamalai, from this constituency. But while Annamalai brims with confidence, it won’t be an easy task for him to take on the two Dravidian majors — DMK and ADMK — both of whom have their loyal followers.
DMK’s formidable nine party alliance, the party’s muscle and money power give it an obvious advantage. ADMK, for its part, has a robust grassroots presence here and a powerful regional satrap – former minister S P Velumani. But BJP, despite its popularity, lacks a grassroots poll management apparatus.
Annamalai, though, is not deterred. “Coimbatore voters have decided their MP candidate. BJP will get 60% of the votes polled,” he says. Annamalai has been promising to take Coimbatore to the next level of industrial and infrastructural growth once Modi becomes PM for the third time and he becomes an MP. There are several takers for that promise. “Only if there is a ruling party MP, we will get more projects,” says a member of an industrial association.
It’s not new for BJP to mount a serious challenge to Dravidian parties in Coimbatore. BJP’s C P Radhakrishnan had won Coimbatore in 1998 as an ADMK ally, and then again in 1999 as a DMK ally. But, since then, victory has been elusive for BJP in parliamentary polls. Radhakrishnan, however, managed to push DMK to third position and emerged runner-up with 3.9 lakh votes in 2014, when BJP floated its own front, taking on the Dravidian majors.
But all along, it was ADMK which was the dominant force in Coimbatore as well as neighbouring districts of western TN, collectively called Kongu Nadu. “Because people know who serves them better,” says ADMK’s candidate Singai G Ramachandran, the IIM-educated IT wing secretary of the party. While both the BJP and ADMK candidates are IIMeducated, DMK’s Ganapathy Rajkumar is a doctorate.
“BJP will be routed in Coimbatore,” says Rajkumar. The ruling party not only wants to disprove the theory that it is weak in Kongu heartland but also wants to arrest the rise of Annamalai.
In more ways than one, the demography of Coimbatore is dichotomous. Alongside the large working-class population, there is the aspirational upwardly mobile urban resident here. Next to the culturally rooted rural population, there is a growing young and tech-savvy crowd. Though Coimbatore is a melting pot of cultures, the place also has people with deeply ingrained caste sentiments. The constituency is a mix of Gounders, Naidus, Malayalees, north Indians, Arunthathiyars and Muslims. Annamalai belongs to majority Gounder community. So does Rajkumar, while Ramachandran is a Naidu.
Since 1952, DMK had field ed candidates in Coimbatore only thrice while ADMK just once – they chose to give the seat to their national allies, hoping Congress or the Left would cash in on the trade unions at the textile mills.
The last time DMK won in Coimbatore was in 1996. Though its allies CPI and CPM won the seat in 2004 and 2019, DMK was always a little wary of Coimbatore. This time though, the Dravidian major has taken the plunge, confident after back-to-back victories in assembly, LS and local body polls since 2019.
Urban Coimbatore has a sizeable north Indian population that backs Modi. Muslims also have a good presence. In rural areas the votes are usually split between DMK and ADMK, but this time saffron flags too can be seen flapping in several villages.
The stakes are high for all the three parties. If DMK wants to prove its mettle in Kongu Nadu and ADMK wants to retain its bastion, BJP wants to repeat the feat it achieved 25 years ago by winning in Coimbatore.
Annamalai has been raking up a host of issues targeting DMK — from corruption, dynastic politics, its alleged anti-Hindu approach, deteriorating law and order and increasing drug trafficking. A poor show by BJP here will also bring the spotlight on Annamalai’s remarks which forced erstwhile ally ADMK to walk out of the alliance.
BJP considers Coimbatore its favourite turf, counting heavily on the sizeable north Indian population, who it hopes are supporters of PM Narendra Modi.Add to that the decades-old communal polarisation, a fissure that appeared after the 1998 serial blasts targeting BJP’s LK Advani. All these factors may have led BJP to field its state president, 39-year-old former IPS officer K Annamalai, from this constituency. But while Annamalai brims with confidence, it won’t be an easy task for him to take on the two Dravidian majors — DMK and ADMK — both of whom have their loyal followers.
DMK’s formidable nine party alliance, the party’s muscle and money power give it an obvious advantage. ADMK, for its part, has a robust grassroots presence here and a powerful regional satrap – former minister S P Velumani. But BJP, despite its popularity, lacks a grassroots poll management apparatus.
Annamalai, though, is not deterred. “Coimbatore voters have decided their MP candidate. BJP will get 60% of the votes polled,” he says. Annamalai has been promising to take Coimbatore to the next level of industrial and infrastructural growth once Modi becomes PM for the third time and he becomes an MP. There are several takers for that promise. “Only if there is a ruling party MP, we will get more projects,” says a member of an industrial association.
It’s not new for BJP to mount a serious challenge to Dravidian parties in Coimbatore. BJP’s C P Radhakrishnan had won Coimbatore in 1998 as an ADMK ally, and then again in 1999 as a DMK ally. But, since then, victory has been elusive for BJP in parliamentary polls. Radhakrishnan, however, managed to push DMK to third position and emerged runner-up with 3.9 lakh votes in 2014, when BJP floated its own front, taking on the Dravidian majors.
But all along, it was ADMK which was the dominant force in Coimbatore as well as neighbouring districts of western TN, collectively called Kongu Nadu. “Because people know who serves them better,” says ADMK’s candidate Singai G Ramachandran, the IIM-educated IT wing secretary of the party. While both the BJP and ADMK candidates are IIMeducated, DMK’s Ganapathy Rajkumar is a doctorate.
“BJP will be routed in Coimbatore,” says Rajkumar. The ruling party not only wants to disprove the theory that it is weak in Kongu heartland but also wants to arrest the rise of Annamalai.
In more ways than one, the demography of Coimbatore is dichotomous. Alongside the large working-class population, there is the aspirational upwardly mobile urban resident here. Next to the culturally rooted rural population, there is a growing young and tech-savvy crowd. Though Coimbatore is a melting pot of cultures, the place also has people with deeply ingrained caste sentiments. The constituency is a mix of Gounders, Naidus, Malayalees, north Indians, Arunthathiyars and Muslims. Annamalai belongs to majority Gounder community. So does Rajkumar, while Ramachandran is a Naidu.
Since 1952, DMK had field ed candidates in Coimbatore only thrice while ADMK just once – they chose to give the seat to their national allies, hoping Congress or the Left would cash in on the trade unions at the textile mills.
The last time DMK won in Coimbatore was in 1996. Though its allies CPI and CPM won the seat in 2004 and 2019, DMK was always a little wary of Coimbatore. This time though, the Dravidian major has taken the plunge, confident after back-to-back victories in assembly, LS and local body polls since 2019.
Urban Coimbatore has a sizeable north Indian population that backs Modi. Muslims also have a good presence. In rural areas the votes are usually split between DMK and ADMK, but this time saffron flags too can be seen flapping in several villages.
The stakes are high for all the three parties. If DMK wants to prove its mettle in Kongu Nadu and ADMK wants to retain its bastion, BJP wants to repeat the feat it achieved 25 years ago by winning in Coimbatore.
Annamalai has been raking up a host of issues targeting DMK — from corruption, dynastic politics, its alleged anti-Hindu approach, deteriorating law and order and increasing drug trafficking. A poor show by BJP here will also bring the spotlight on Annamalai’s remarks which forced erstwhile ally ADMK to walk out of the alliance.
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