Lok Sabha Elections: Why Katchatheevu Is Not Poll Issue In Tamil Nadu Seat Facing Sri Lanka

The Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram seat has long been at the radars of the BJP since the Sethusamudram project issue made headlines. The BJP had protested against the project claiming that the project would destroy the Ram Setu built by the Vanar Sena of Lord Rama. One end of the setu touches Ramanathapuram's seat. However, despite the BJP raking up the Katchatheevu island issue, the talk of this year's poll at the seat is a fight being put up by former CM O Panneerselvam.

O Panneerselvam vs K Navas Kani

The DMK gave the seat to the Indian Union Muslim League in 2019. IUML candidate K Navas Kani is sitting MP from the seat and has been fielded again by the DMK-IUML. However, OPS is contesting from the seat as an independent and is backed by the BJP after his ouster from the AIADMK. The former CM is taking no chance and is campaigning till late evening to cover as much ground as possible to win a seat which is relatively new territory for him. OPS is a sitting MLA from the Bodinayakkanur constituency. AIADMK has fielded P Jeyaperumal from the seat.

Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha Seat

The Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha has six assembly constituencies - Aranthangi, Tiruchuli, Paramakudi, Thiruvaadanai, Ramanathapuram and Mudukulathur. The seat has over 16 lakh voters. Last time, Navas Kani had bagged the seat by a margin of 1.27 lakh votes. Panneerselvam is banking heavily on Thevars- the OBC community to which he belongs to. The community dominates the seat. OPS's candidature from the seat could be also due to the gradual advancement of the BJP in this region. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the party secured 16.5% of the votes, a figure that rose to 17.20% by 2014. In the 2019 elections, the BJP-AIADMK coalition collectively garnered 32.31% of the votes.