The Villupuram Lok Sabha constituency is the only constituency that will witness a straight contest between two fierce rivals — Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and Pattali Makkal Katchi — representing the interests of Scheduled Castes and Vanniyars respectively, and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the upcoming Lok Sabha election on April 19.
Villupuram, a reserved constituency, is one of the economically backward districts in Tamil Nadu and hopes to attract investments from various industries. While it has decent connectivity and human resource capital, the lack of jobs within the district has resulted in a sizeable population migrating to other States such as Maharashtra in search of livelihood.
While livelihood issues dominate the debate, the bitter political rivalry between the PMK and the VCK in the last decade and a half, which has vitiated the relationship between two major Tamil communities is not likely to result in a close battle as the DMK alliance, of which the VCK is a part, is sitting pretty in the light of a divided opposition.
