Madurai Constituency: A Three-Cornered Contest

Voters in the Madurai Lok Sabha constituency headed to the polls today, April 19, as the region took part in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. As one of the key constituencies in Tamil Nadu, Madurai has been the centre of intense political campaigns, rallies, and roadshows by all major parties. The leading candidates in the Madurai Lok Sabha constituency include Su. Venkatesan of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM), who represents the DMK alliance and is the current MP of the constituency. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) candidate is P. Saravanan, a doctor and former MLA. Raama Sreenivasan is running for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Meanwhile, T. Satyadevi of Naam Tamilar Katchi (TMK) is the only female candidate out of the 21 nominees contesting in the Madurai Lok Sabha constituency.

Madurai, also known as ‘Koil Nagar’ (temple city), is celebrated for its rich spiritual and cultural heritage, as well as its deep roots in Dravidian politics and art. The city is home to the revered Shri Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, a major spiritual landmark. Additionally, Madurai is renowned for being the place where Mahatma Gandhi renounced his shirt, marking a significant moment in India’s freedom struggle, and the city has also been the birthplace of several influential political leaders, including MK Alagiri, a DMK leader and son of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, and Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs and a member of the Rajya Sabha. Besides, this constituency holds a unique cultural identity and is famous for Jallikattu, a traditional bull-taming sport that is like no other in the world. Alankanallur, a town within Madurai district, is considered the capital of Jallikattu.

The Madurai Lok Sabha constituency, a general category seat, was established in 1952 and consists of six segments: Melur, Madurai North, Madurai South, Madurai Central, Madurai West, and Madurai East. Madurai district is the most populous in Tamil Nadu, with a literacy rate of 83.5% higher than the state literacy rate, which is 80.1%. The constituency boasts around 16 lakh voters, including a higher number of female voters, estimated to be approximately 30,000 more than male voters. Notably, Tamil Nadu, particularly Madurai, is home to 43 percent of women working in factories across India.

The region has a diverse population that includes Sourashtras, Yadavas, Muslims, Christians, Mutharaiyas, Nayaks, Nadars, and Scheduled Tribes (ST). According to the 2011 census, 10.6% of voters in the constituency belong to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community. Madurai’s economy is primarily based on agriculture.

Madurai stands as one of the most influential parliamentary constituencies for both the DMK and AIADMK. In the 2021 assembly elections, the DMK secured four MLAs, while the AIADMK won two MLAs in the region. But, interestingly, they have only rarely competed directly, and they have also won only once each. In the 2009 parliamentary elections, DMK’s MK Alagiri and in 2014 , AIADMK’s R Gopalakrishnan won. Otherwise, most of the time, Congress and Communist parties have won Madurai in alliance.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Venkatesan, a writer and CPI (M) MP from Madurai won the seat with 44% of the vote, garnering 447,075 votes. He is also a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award. In the last election, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), contested and secured 85,000 votes in Madurai, has now joined the DMK alliance.

Rama Sreenivasan, initially expecting to contest from Virudhunagar, was instead fielded by the BJP in Madurai. The BJP brought in senior party leader Amit Shah to campaign for Sreenivasan in Madurai on April 12. However, according to a report from The Indian Express, the BJP doesn’t ring a bell among voters in the Madurai constituency.

The election results for the Madurai Lok Sabha constituency will be announced on June 4.

(This story is part of a Timeline. internship project.)