Thiru. Vi. Ka. Nagar Assembly constituency is a classic case of a region that is caught between the city’s poorer north and a prospering central district.

Nowhere is the voice shriller than when it comes to expressing to opining on rising prices of fuel and essential commodities. The voters, who have to grapple with a host of issues, are deeply disappointed. And the COVID-19 pandemic has only added fuel to the fire.

“We do not want freebies that the political parties are promising voters. Instead, we want them to put an end to the steep hike in the prices of fuel and essential commodities. I pay an exorbitant amount to buy anything from oil to cooking gas cylinder but I cannot increase the price of tea or snack when I sell it to people. How can we survive like this,” asks B. Venkatesh, who runs a small eatery at Pulianthope.

With an electorate of 2.2 lakh people, Thiru. Vi. Ka. Nagar constituency, which was formed after the delimitation exercise, comprises areas like Pulianthope, Otteri, Pattalam, Ayanavaram and parts of Perambur. The lower middle class families are predominant in the constituency.

Pandemic impact

Abdul Khader, who runs a shop in Pattalam, says many have been rendered jobless after COVID-19 struck and the government should look at ways of generating jobs.

Otteri Nullah that is supposed to carry flood water to the Buckingham Canal has not been desilted, and people dump garbage along its banks.

Vidya B., a long-time resident of Otteri, says the mosquito menace has become worse.

“All the by-lanes get flooded every monsoon. In my house, we always pack things as monsoon as hits, because we know rainwater will enter the house. They should desilt the canal often which they barely do,” she says.

Residents say some roads were hurriedly laid recently ahead of the election. But some stretches are still in poor shape.

Ammaiya Ammal Street is a case in point. Riding through it is a nightmare for people like N. Rathi. And that is not all.

“The sewage gets mixed with drinking water often and we have to go complain now and then. We are fed up,” she says.

After delimitation, voters elected V. Neelakandan of the AIADMK in 2011 and in 2016, they returned the DMK’s Thayagam Kavi.

Mr. Kavi is seeking re-election.

As if sensing the strong undercurrent of discontent, the AIADMK has given the seat to the Tamil Maanila Congress, which is fielding P.L. Kalyani, a local resident.

Mr. Kavi says some roads have not been laid yet because the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) is yet to complete its work.

Ms. Kalyani says, “I have been a resident of the area for years and I know what the issues are. If elected, I will first rectify the sewage overflow issues and change the pipelines and guarantee clean drinking water.”