Thamizhachi Thangapandian wins from Chennai South

BY PRAKASH M SWAMY

T. Sumathy alias Thamizhachi Thangapandian of the Dravida

Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was elected as the Member of the

Parliament in the South Chennai Constituency for a second

term. 

She cemented her role as the MP by securing 516,628 votes,

surpassing Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan of the Bharatiya Janata

Party (BJP), her closest competitor, by a margin of 225,945

votes. She is the sister Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam

Thennarasu and daughter of late DMK Minister Thanga

Pandian.

DMK party machinery proved strong in South Chennai, helping

Thamizhachi Thangapandian win a rare second term. T R Baalu

was the only other candidate to win the seat twice in 67 years

The vote counting went on till midnight on the result day;

Thamizhachi Thangapandian received the Certificate of

Election from the returning officer at 2.30 am. A large

part of Mylapore zone falls under Chennai South.

Thamizhachi is a resident of Neelankarai on the ECR.

Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan from BJP and Dr J .Jayavardhan

from ADMK secured 290,683 and 172,491 votes respectively.

She not only trounced the former Governor of Telangana and Lt

Governor of Puducherry Dr Tamil Isai but also former MP of

South Chennai and son of AIADMK leader and former Minister

Dr Jayavardhan

Hailing from a renowned political background, Thamizhachi

Thangapandian was an English professor, theatre artiste, and

writer. She made her political debut in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls

contesting from the Chennai South constituency. 

After winning the election Thamizhachi Thangapandian took to

social media to thank Chief Minister MK Stalin, who had been

her mentor in the party

She also conveyed her thanks to senior heads of INDIA Bloc,

Sports Minister Udayanidhi Stalin, DMK Deputy General

Secretary Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Health and Family Welfare

Ma Subramanian, Mylapore MLA Dha Velu, voters, and all the

party cadres who had stood by her.

During her election campaign, in a debate session with the

members of FOMRRA, she highlighted her familiarity with the

local issues and her approachability. “I’m on the field listening

to grievances and acting upon them,” she emphasized, as she

enlisted her projects

Clearing the Pallikaranai dump yard marshes using biomedical

processes, organizing workshops and medical camps for anemic

women, up skilling women, introducing sustainable menstrual

hygiene products, conducting awareness programs on plastic

pollution

A problem that was not addressed ever, I took it upon myself

and tied up 15000 beneficiaries with an organization in Kerala,

to distribute menstrual cups, thus making their life easier. I

have always raised my voice in Parliament, keeping in mind the

welfare of my constituency

I keep abreast with the happenings in the society. Given a

second term, I would complete all the ongoing projects and

score more for the women in the constituency,” she says.

Her election manifesto includes the following promises for the

constituency includes One Stop Centre for domestic violence

against women, Foot over bridges, skywalk and escalators at

main roads to ease traffic; 

Multi storied parking system at OMR and ECR roads;

elevating the status of Adyar Cancer Institute to an institute of

national importance

Enabling the differently-abled to enjoy the beauty of Elliot’s

beach by constructing a wooden pathway towards the seaside,

setting up smart classrooms in schools to improve the intellect

of students, maintenance work to be undertaken at dilapidated

buildings of the urban Housing Board, conducting grievance

meetings every three months to solve issues of the public,

It was clear from the start that DMK candidate Thamizhachi

Thangapandian was poised to win the Chennai South

constituency and she eventually won the seat for the second

time with a margin of over 2 lakh votes. Surprisingly, it wasn’t

the traditional Dravidian rival, the AIADMK, which got the

second spot, but BJP.