Neglected Trichy hunts for a caring godfather

  • | Saturday | 30th March, 2019

It is pointed out that Madurai landed the project because of the enthusiasm and perseverance of the elected representatives there. Trichy West and Trichy East have many pending infrastructure projects ranging from integrated bus stand to semi-ring road. With the majority voters from mutharaiyar, mukkulathor, and vellalar communities, the constituency had in the past elected representatives from minority, scheduled caste and backward classes. “The elected MP will have to coordinate and communicate effectively with several Union ministries such as railways, civil aviation and heavy industries for developing the constituency. It was this shoddy experience in the past decade that have left voters longing for a godfather to get their needs heard.

In many ways, Trichy , the gateway to the Cauvery delta and Tamil Nadu’s central region, has had a chequered history from the days of the Chola and Vijayanagar kingdoms. Just as these dynasties rose and fell, in modern times the people of the constituency have not pledged their loyalty to one particular party.The empires may have revered Trichy for its cultural and geographical significance, but the politicians are yet to give the constituency its due. Trichy perhaps is the city with the most number of pending infrastructure projects in the state, the inordinate delays often attributed to the absence of political will. “Unlike the strong lobbies in Coimbatore and Madurai, Trichy has been orphaned for a decade due to the absence of a vocal leader,” V B Jeganath, member, Trichy Intra-City Development Endeavours (TIDES) said.For Trichy, the role of an MP is more important than an MLA since central government institutions like IIM, NIT, Bhel, ordnance factory as well as the airport and railway division outnumber state government establishments. Each of the six assembly segments has its own set of woes. Trichy West and Trichy East have many pending infrastructure projects ranging from integrated bus stand to semi-ring road. As for Srirangam and Gandarvakkottai, the lack of commitment to tap the agricultural export potential, especially of banana and cashew, has kept the region underdeveloped. Pudukottai and Thiruverumbur, the hotbed of MSMEs, have been awaiting a messiah to resurrect them from debt and generate employment.Local people have not forgotten the setback that the region suffered in being chosen as the location for the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) when it was dropped in favour of Madurai. It is pointed out that Madurai landed the project because of the enthusiasm and perseverance of the elected representatives there. Yet another unrealized decade-old demand is the launch of a train service connecting Bengaluru, whereas Coimbatore got Uday Express connecting the IT hub. The lastminute alterations have been attributed to strong lobbying by the political representatives in the other tier-ii cities. It was this shoddy experience in the past decade that have left voters longing for a godfather to get their needs heard. “The elected MP will have to coordinate and communicate effectively with several Union ministries such as railways, civil aviation and heavy industries for developing the constituency. Trichy was never given the attention it deserves,” H Ubaidullah, an independent civil aviation analyst, added.As far as caste algorithm goes, Trichy has remained fairly secular in electing its MP. With the majority voters from mutharaiyar, mukkulathor, and vellalar communities, the constituency had in the past elected representatives from minority, scheduled caste and backward classes.

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