The voters of the Dharapuram (Reserved) Assembly constituency in Tiruppur district are set to witness a contest between the State president of the BJP and a first-time candidate from the DMK front in next month’s Assembly election.

BJP Tamil Nadu president L. Murugan is the candidate of the AIADMK front for the Dharapuram constituency which, incidentally, is the only reserved constituency in the Kongu region to have been allocated by the AIADMK to the BJP. He became the party’s State unit president in March 2020, and unsuccessfully contested the Assembly election in 2011 (from Rasipuram) and 2006 (from Sankari) as a member of the BJP.

On the other hand, the DMK has decided to field Kayalvizhi Selvaraj, a functionary of the party’s women’s wing. According to sources, she has been a member of the DMK since 1996.

Many long-standing demands of the voters of this constituency remain unaddressed. Agriculture being a predominant occupation here, the farmers have been demanding the release of an adequate amount of water into the Uppar dam in Kundadam for irrigating over 6,000 acres of agricultural land.

R. Muruganantham, executive committee member of the Tiruppur District Uppar Farmers’ Protection Association, said the farmers had intensified their protest over the past two years, demanding the release of water from the Thirumoorthy dam into the Uppar dam.

An official from the Public Works Department said only surplus water from the Thirumoorthy dam could be released, as per a government order. The surplus water was released for eight days in January, the official noted.

However, Mr. Muruganantham said this would not be sufficient for irrigation. “There is no guarantee that the authorities will ensure the release of adequate water in the future,” he said.

Education and health

Within the Dharapuram municipal limits demands, including the setting up of a government arts college and better facilities at the Dharapuram Government Hospital, have been pending for over a decade. P. Kathiravan, former councillor of Ward 25 from the DMK, said students from Dharapuram were forced to go to Kangeyam and Udumalpet to pursue higher education. Similarly, patients from Dharapuram were seeking treatment at the Tiruppur Government Medical College Hospital and the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital due to the lack of facilities at the local government hospital.