NAGAPATTINAM: Buoyed by multiple advantages, J. Mohamed Shanavas alias 'Aloor' Shanavas, a multi-faceted candidate from the VCK, secured a win in the diverse constituency of Nagapattinam in the State Assembly election.
Nagapattinam constituency has a considerable minority population, with people from the scheduled, backward and most backward castes constituting Dravidian voters. 'Aloor' Mohamed Shanavas had almost everything working in his favour in the road to victory in the constituency.
The minority advantage:
Nagore, one of the most important centres for the Muslim minority population, constitutes 10 of the 36 wards in Nagapattinam municipality. Around 90% of residents are Muslims. The suburb makes for a strong representation for the Muslims.
In 2016, the AIADMK awarded the seat to M Thamimun Ansari who had just left his party Manithaneya Makkal Katchi and started his own party Manithaneya Jananayaka Katchi. Although his opponent was also a minority candidate from the DMK ally, Ansari was able to bank the votes from Nagore. Thamimun Ansari wanted to contest the 2021 Assembly polls from Nagapattinam. The DMK, which was under seat sharing pressure, allotted the seat to VCK. 'Aloor' J Mohamed Shanavas, its star candidate was fielded.
The minority community who were deeply dissatisfied with the passing of the CAA-NRC Bill by the BJP-led NDA government, voted the DMK-led SPA alliance candidate to power.
'The Dravidian bonhomie':
There was some alleged tremors in the DMK unit after the leadership decided to allot Nagapattinam constituency to an allied party. Nagapattinam's DMK district secretary N Gowthaman had earlier applied for contesting from the constituency but he swore on record that he would accept the word of his party high command. Gowthaman kept his word. Since being announced as the candidate, Shanavas was rarely seen in the constituency without the company of Gowthaman. It appeared befitting that Gowthaman shared a hand when Shanavas received the winning certificate.
'VCK's youth icon':
Shanavas was already popular among the young votebank with his participation in television news debates and his oratory skills. Shanavas, a journalism student, who joined the party ten years ago, is currently the party’s deputy general secretary. The announcement of 'Aloor' Shanavas as Nagapattinam candidate excited many voters among the scheduled caste communities. Shanavas managed to ride on their votes.Eventually, Aloor Shanavas capitalised on the factors and managed to come at the top and beat his primary opponent in AIADMK’s Thanga Kathiravan. He received 66281 votes and won by a decent margin of 7238 votes.