Coimbatore voters have plenty to choose from

COIMBATORE: A multi-cornered contest in the offing in the region with the Left parties deciding to go it alone and DMK declaring its candidates. On Monday, DMK nominated K Ganesh Kumar, a lawyer, for the Coimbatore seat, setting the stage for a rare DMK-AIADMK face-off. AIADMK candidate, AP Nagarajan, too is a lawyer.
Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency has for long been contested and won by the allies of DMK and AIADMK, including CPM, CPI, Congress and BJP.In fact, both DMK and AIADMK have in all these years preferred to leave the seat to allies. The last time DMK put up a candidate here was in whereas the voters last saw an AIADMK nominee in .
Interestingly, DMK seems to harbour the thought the Left may have a rethink and join its ranks. Sources said DMK nominated former minister and district secretary Pongalur Palanisamy from Pollachi instead of Coimbatore as the party had earmarked the latter seat for the Left. Pongalur is contesting a general election for the first time and began campaign work in the constituency two weeks ago. The last time DMK fielded a candidate from Pollachi was in 1980.
In the absence of a clear two-front contest, it is tough to gauge the political wind in Coimbatore. First, no political party can claim with assurance that it has the upper hand. The seat has been a Left bastion in the past though DMK and BJP have won twice. Congress too has had a presence in the region.
Though the city and the region remain highly industrialized, the structure of the work force has changed. The organized working class that formed the bulk of the Left supported is no more an influential segment, which has depleted the strength of the Left here. However, both CPI and CPM have a substantial presence which will influence the electoral outcome in Coimbatore and Tirupur.
The decline of the Left and the rise of the BJP in Coimbatore happened almost around the same time. BJP's senior leader C P Radhakrishnan won the seat twice in consecutive elections after the 1998 blasts. The Hindutva party, which has stitched a formidable alliance that as of now includes MDMK, DMDK and PMK, is likely to contest the seat this time. Congress which finished second in 2009 general election is likely to field former MP R Prabhu according to sources.
The presence of Kongu outfits complicate the picture further. Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam leader Best S Ramasamy had initially said the party would ally with BJP. However, BJP has allied with Kongu Nadu Makkal Desiya Katchi. So, Kongu Nadu Munnetra Kazhagam is planning to field its own candidate in Coimbatore. The rivalry between the two Kongu outfits may divide the gounder community votes.
In neighbouring Pollachi, AIADMK is a force to reckon with having won the seat six times. DMK has won the seat four times, Congress thrice and MDMK twice. AIADMK and MDMK are considered to be front runners for the seat. MDMK has been aggressively intervening in civic and agriculture related issues in the constituency for a while now. MDMK state youth wing secretary V Eswaran is likely to contest the seat.
Tirupur parliamentary constituency's first general election was in 2009 and AIADMK candidate C Sivasami won the election. Left parties will divide the votes and who will win is anybody's guess.