Traffic Ramaswamy knows this is a fight he can’t win. The frail octogenarian is up against the mighty Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in an electoral battle that has so far found no other contenders. There can only be one result to this contest, he knows. But then, Traffic Ramaswamy has never shied away from a fight because of poor odds.
In Tamil Nadu all eyes are on the by-election in the Radhakrishnan Nagar assembly constituency on June 27. It is the last mile in Jayalalithaa’s journey back into the seat of power. She was forced to abdicate that seat in September 2014 when a Bengaluru trial court convicted her on charges of possessing assets disproportionate to her income. When an appeal in the Karnataka High Court returned a verdict in her favour last month, she took oath as chief minister once again. Now the only thing left for her to do is get elected again as a member of the assembly within six months.
Radhakrishnan Nagar in Chennai was chosen for Amma because it has long been a bastion of her party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Making way for his party chief, the sitting AIADMK legislator, P Vetrivel, resigned mid-May.
Other parties, it seems, have shown her the same regard as Vetrivel.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and S Ramadoss’s Pattali Makkal Katchi recently announced their decision not to contest the bypoll. “We know how democracy will be treated in the by-election,” said DMK chief M Karunanidhi in a statement. “We witnessed how money played a role in the Srirangam bypoll and how the police remained indifferent to the excesses of the ruling party.”
The Left parties say they would like to contest the by-election but no candidate has been formally announced yet. The Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and Vijaykanth’s Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam have so far been silent on the issue.
Enter Traffic Ramaswamy. He decided to contest against Jayalalithaa, and has since met leader after political leader seeking their support for himself as a common candidate. All in vain. “That is alright,” he said cheerfully. “I have been agitating against corruption for the past 30 years and I am fighting this bypoll simply to prove a point – that people should not be taken in by the flawed acquittal of Jayalalithaa. This must be a vote against corruption.”
Life-long crusader
Ramaswamy’s journey as an activist began in 1948 when he was just 14. As he remembers it, a tehsildar in Cheyyar town stopped him illegally and took away his 10-kilo sack of rice. “I bought a postcard and sent a written complaint to his superiors in Chennai,” the 81-year-old said. “The tehsildar was suspended within a week. He then came home and asked for forgiveness. I asked him to give me a written apology, which he did. I sent the written apology to his superiors and he was reinstated.”
He got the moniker Traffic when he filed a rash of public interest litigations in Tamil Nadu courts against the traffic police demanding better road safety. He has been a regular fixture at courtrooms across Tamil Nadu since 1998, and for some time his focus has been battling graft.
In March, the police swooped in on Ramaswamy at 4 am and arrested him for removing illegal hoardings of the ruling party. He fought and lost miserably the by-election in Srirangam, the seat vacated by Jayalalithaa in 2014 after her conviction by the trial court. He is well aware that he will get trumped again in Radhakrishnan Nagar. “It is tough of course,” said Ramaswamy. “But one cannot say there is absolutely no support. People are afraid of Jayalalithaa and they will not spell out their views aloud.”
As it turns out, people of the constituency do spell out their view – and it is largely faith in Amma.
Hoping for deliverance
As the Radhakrishnan Nagar readies for polls, roads are being scraped and re-laid and the area’s dirty streets cleaned vigorously. Amused residents attribute the newfound diligence of civic authorities to Amma’s candidature.
“In the past three days they have cleaned up the streets here,” said 32-year-old Hemalatha Yuvaraj, who runs a tea-shop in Tondiarpet area within the Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency. “All these years, it has been filthy, with rotting garbage and people urinating by the roadside. Thanks to Amma, they are now cleaning it up.”
Apart from the amusement, what is striking here is the unshakeable faith of most voters that Amma will win the election and transform their lives. “We don’t have power in over 400 huts here,” said Hemalatha, gesturing at them. “The whole slum is infested with rats and snakes. We don’t have access to good education for our children. Amma will change all that now that she is the candidate for us.”
Radhakrishnan Nagar is a middle class constituency, where several castes – Mudaliars, Chettiars and Dalits – reside peacefully. A large Telugu-speaking population too live in the constituency that was once part of Chennai North. Toilets came to the sprawling slums here just three years ago. “Until then we used to relieve ourselves in a nearby field,” said Hemalatha.
First-time voters say they will vote for Jayalalithaa because she will help them get employment. “I dropped out of school after completing Class IX,” said 20-year-old Velan Kumar, a lorry mechanic. “My friends and I wanted to take a vocational training course but we started working due to poverty in the family. Now we earn about Rs 200-400 on average a day but there is work only for about two days a week. We just want permanent jobs.”
Kumar’s friend Prabhakar Ramesh says crime too is an issue. “All sorts of criminal elements come to the area, smoke ganja, get drunk and create problems for us and the girls here,” said Ramesh. “The police harass us instead of catching the culprits. Amma should look into all this and ensure peaceful lives for us.”
There is little doubt that Jayalalithaa will sweep Radhakrishnan Nagar, even if she doesn’t campaign. It will take Traffic Ramaswamy more than anti-corruption oratory to win the popular vote.
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In Tamil Nadu all eyes are on the by-election in the Radhakrishnan Nagar assembly constituency on June 27. It is the last mile in Jayalalithaa’s journey back into the seat of power. She was forced to abdicate that seat in September 2014 when a Bengaluru trial court convicted her on charges of possessing assets disproportionate to her income. When an appeal in the Karnataka High Court returned a verdict in her favour last month, she took oath as chief minister once again. Now the only thing left for her to do is get elected again as a member of the assembly within six months.
Radhakrishnan Nagar in Chennai was chosen for Amma because it has long been a bastion of her party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Making way for his party chief, the sitting AIADMK legislator, P Vetrivel, resigned mid-May.
Other parties, it seems, have shown her the same regard as Vetrivel.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and S Ramadoss’s Pattali Makkal Katchi recently announced their decision not to contest the bypoll. “We know how democracy will be treated in the by-election,” said DMK chief M Karunanidhi in a statement. “We witnessed how money played a role in the Srirangam bypoll and how the police remained indifferent to the excesses of the ruling party.”
The Left parties say they would like to contest the by-election but no candidate has been formally announced yet. The Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and Vijaykanth’s Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam have so far been silent on the issue.
Enter Traffic Ramaswamy. He decided to contest against Jayalalithaa, and has since met leader after political leader seeking their support for himself as a common candidate. All in vain. “That is alright,” he said cheerfully. “I have been agitating against corruption for the past 30 years and I am fighting this bypoll simply to prove a point – that people should not be taken in by the flawed acquittal of Jayalalithaa. This must be a vote against corruption.”
Life-long crusader
Ramaswamy’s journey as an activist began in 1948 when he was just 14. As he remembers it, a tehsildar in Cheyyar town stopped him illegally and took away his 10-kilo sack of rice. “I bought a postcard and sent a written complaint to his superiors in Chennai,” the 81-year-old said. “The tehsildar was suspended within a week. He then came home and asked for forgiveness. I asked him to give me a written apology, which he did. I sent the written apology to his superiors and he was reinstated.”
He got the moniker Traffic when he filed a rash of public interest litigations in Tamil Nadu courts against the traffic police demanding better road safety. He has been a regular fixture at courtrooms across Tamil Nadu since 1998, and for some time his focus has been battling graft.
In March, the police swooped in on Ramaswamy at 4 am and arrested him for removing illegal hoardings of the ruling party. He fought and lost miserably the by-election in Srirangam, the seat vacated by Jayalalithaa in 2014 after her conviction by the trial court. He is well aware that he will get trumped again in Radhakrishnan Nagar. “It is tough of course,” said Ramaswamy. “But one cannot say there is absolutely no support. People are afraid of Jayalalithaa and they will not spell out their views aloud.”
As it turns out, people of the constituency do spell out their view – and it is largely faith in Amma.
Hoping for deliverance
As the Radhakrishnan Nagar readies for polls, roads are being scraped and re-laid and the area’s dirty streets cleaned vigorously. Amused residents attribute the newfound diligence of civic authorities to Amma’s candidature.
“In the past three days they have cleaned up the streets here,” said 32-year-old Hemalatha Yuvaraj, who runs a tea-shop in Tondiarpet area within the Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency. “All these years, it has been filthy, with rotting garbage and people urinating by the roadside. Thanks to Amma, they are now cleaning it up.”
Apart from the amusement, what is striking here is the unshakeable faith of most voters that Amma will win the election and transform their lives. “We don’t have power in over 400 huts here,” said Hemalatha, gesturing at them. “The whole slum is infested with rats and snakes. We don’t have access to good education for our children. Amma will change all that now that she is the candidate for us.”
Radhakrishnan Nagar is a middle class constituency, where several castes – Mudaliars, Chettiars and Dalits – reside peacefully. A large Telugu-speaking population too live in the constituency that was once part of Chennai North. Toilets came to the sprawling slums here just three years ago. “Until then we used to relieve ourselves in a nearby field,” said Hemalatha.
Hemlatha has high hopes from Jayalalithaa.
First-time voters say they will vote for Jayalalithaa because she will help them get employment. “I dropped out of school after completing Class IX,” said 20-year-old Velan Kumar, a lorry mechanic. “My friends and I wanted to take a vocational training course but we started working due to poverty in the family. Now we earn about Rs 200-400 on average a day but there is work only for about two days a week. We just want permanent jobs.”
Kumar’s friend Prabhakar Ramesh says crime too is an issue. “All sorts of criminal elements come to the area, smoke ganja, get drunk and create problems for us and the girls here,” said Ramesh. “The police harass us instead of catching the culprits. Amma should look into all this and ensure peaceful lives for us.”
There is little doubt that Jayalalithaa will sweep Radhakrishnan Nagar, even if she doesn’t campaign. It will take Traffic Ramaswamy more than anti-corruption oratory to win the popular vote.
