Dharapuram Bypoll: Infrastructure Demands Meet Party Politics

TIRUPPUR: Dharapuram is returning to the polling booth within months, but the demands awaiting its next MLA are years old. Farmers want reliable water supply to Uppar Dam, traders a new bus terminus, and residents relief from traffic congestion. For a town that became a municipality in 1866, the same year as Coimbatore, the wait for better infrastructure has been long. While Coimbatore emerged as an industrial hub, Dharapuram remains largely agrarian, still seeking rail connectivity and improvements to its roads and water supply. Yet, much of the campaign for the bypoll has revolved around why its last elected representative changed parties. P Sathyabama, who won the reserved constituency on an AIADMK ticket in the April election, resigned as MLA on May 25 and joined the TVK. She is now running for re-election, facing a tough contest from AIADMK’s K Banumathi and DMK’s S Suganya. The election offices of the three parties stand close to one another on the same road in Dharapuram. Each camp exudes confidence, but Sathyabama has had to defend her resignation before voters as well as counter the opposition parties’ attacks. The ruling TVK is counting on the personal appeal of Vijay to secure victory against the Dravidian rivals, despite having finished a distant third in the Assembly elections. On his campaign trail, the TVK chief strongly criticised the DMK and AIADMK for levelling baseless allegations against Sathyabama. Vijay described Sathyabama as a steadfast loyalist of former CMs M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, dismissing claims that she switched sides for financial or material benefits.