Did AIADMK mismanage Dec floods? Saidapet holds answer

Four months after the Adyar river breached its banks, A Parimala is still living on a pavement in Saidapet on Anna Salai in Chennai. About 50 families remain homeless after the December floods as the government is yet to allocate houses in Perumbakkam.
“They shifted several families from the Adyar bank to the outskirts. We don’t have any place to go.We are scared of speeding vehicles, especially at night,” says Parimala. “We want proper houses but politicians do not remember us after the elections.”
Mismanagement of flood relief is a charge all parties are throwing at the AIADMK, and if one is looking for proof, Saidapet is the constituency to watch.
Saidapet assembly constituency, which consists of West Saidapet, CIT Nagar, Jaffarkhanpet, Ekkaduthangal, IIT, Raj Bhavan quarters, Maduvankarai, Surya Nagar, Srinagar Colony and Kotturpuram, was one of the worst affected localities in the city.
The contest is between former Chennai mayor M Subramanian and AIADMK veteran and former finance minister C Ponnaiyan. Other candidates on the sidelines are CPI’s S Elumalai, PMK’s Sahadevan and BJP’s V Kalidass. DMK is confident of a win as Subramanian, popularly known as MaSu, is known on the ground not only for his stint as mayor but also because he was out in a boat during the deluge, rescuing people and delivering food and medicines. “MaSu has been the Saidapet councillor from 1996. He is well connected to the voters and knows every nook and corner of the constituency,” said a DMK member.
Saidapet was a DMK bastion till the early 1980s, till the AIADMK got a break in 1984. DMK chief M Karunanidhi always begins his election campaign from Saidapet, where he was elected twice in 1967 and 1971.
G Senthamizhan, the sitting MLA hasn’t landed a ticket. Residents said his performance was not up to the mark. DMK is projecting AIADMK candidate Ponnaiyan as an outsider. Senthamizhan, however, said this is untrue.
“People vote for Amma (Jayalalithaa), not a particular candidate. We recovered from the floods very quickly because of the efficient administration. The government has spent more than 300 crore in Saidapet alone over the past five years,” he says.
If MaSu wins Saidapet — and the wind seems to be blowing that way — it will be a double victory. He will not only make the charge of flood mismanagement stick but also be the MLA of a constituency that is present Chennai mayor Saidai S Duraisamy’s home turf. MaSu is one of Duraisamy’s sharpest critics, accusing him of doing absolutely nothing for the city.
“The civic administration has been paralysed and no work is happening on ground. When ruling partymen were absent during the floods, it was DMK that distributed more than 62,000 food packets in Saidapet alone,” said Subramanian. “AIADMK has done nothing in five years except set up idli shops.”