City: Chennai

In North Chennai’s Vyasarpadi, candidates from different political parties contesting the upcoming parliamentary elections are on the last leg of their campaign around the neighbourhood. This is an oft-repeated tradition among politicians, especially in working-class localities, where they offer guarantees like electricity, water, monthly financial assistance, free buses, job opportunities and more, promised through government schemes.  In Vyasarpadi, like many other parts of the city, while everyone votes every year, the reasons for the consistent participation are not necessarily rooted in in-depth political knowledge about candidates. The incentives promised by politicians are important for overall development of the community, but…

As the Lok Sabha 2024 election is underway, political parties have released their election manifestos. What do the parties promise for us urban residents? How do they plan to make our cities sustainable and liveable? Why cities matter In 2022, approximately a third of the total population in India lived in cities. The trend shows an increase in urbanisation by more than 4% over the last decade, which means that people have moved away from rural areas to find work and make a living in the cities. The demographic dividend of India is significant, with 65% of its population being…

Candidate lists, MP profiles, interviews, voter guide, choosing an MP, polling booth info, news, analysis and data... watch this space as we update this continuously over the various phases of voting in the Lok Sabha elections 2024 Constituencies & Candidates Get to know your constituency, and who your candidates are. Phase 1: April 19th Chennai North Chennai Central Chennai South Phase 2: April 26th Bangalore North Bangalore Central Bangalore South Phase 5: May 20th Mumbai North Mumbai South Mumbai North East Mumbai North West Mumbai North Central Mumbai South Central Candidate Interviews & Profiles Have suggested a health survey to…

Are you a resident of Ramapuram or Alandur, who thinks your ward comes under the Chennai South Parliamentary Constituency? Well, you are wrong! Knowing the boundaries of the Parliamentary constituencies is important because some of the wards that fall in Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) limits belong to the suburban parts of Chennai when it comes to Parliamentary voting, which is entirely different when we consider the profile of the urban and suburban areas. There are 200 wards under 15 Zones in the GCC limit. However, some of the wards in GCC limits fall under the Thiruvallur and Sriperumbudur Parliamentary Constituencies.…

Being the commercial nerve centre of the city, Chennai Central constituency has a significant population of migrants. From Chennai Metro Water department to the state electricity board and the GST and central excise departments, crucial city, state and central government offices are located in Chennai Central. The constituency is also a hub of healthcare institutions, with more than a dozen prominent government hospitals such as Government Children Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and Kilpauk Medical College Hospital located here.  Chennai Central comprises of six assembly constituencies — Villivakkam, Egmore, Harbour, Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni, Thousand Lights and Anna Nagar. Politically, the constituency…

As India gets ready to vote to decide who will represent the country in Parliament, Citizen Matters is speaking to elected representatives from Chennai, ahead of the Lok Sabha 2024 elections. As part of this series, we did an email interview with T Sumathy alias Thamizhachi Thangapandian, incumbent MP from Chennai South constituency. Thamizhachi has been given the ticket by her party DMK to contest from the same constituency in the 2024 polls. Chennai South and Thamizhachi Thangapandian Chennai South constituency comprises of Mylapore, Saidapet, Virugambakkam, Velachery, Sholinganallur and Thyagaraya Nagar. A poet, writer, educationist and theatre person, Thamizhachi is the daughter…

Kannappar Thidal residents of Chennai Central constituency to boycott Lok Sabha elections In line with the villagers of Ennore and Parandur, residents of Kannappar Thidal in Chennai's Central constituency have also decided to boycott the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Around 62 families, who were living on the streets near the Ripon building, were evicted in 2002 by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) as their presence was found to be an obstacle to the then-ongoing sporting events and developmental work in the nearby Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. These families were provided with a temporary shelter with a promise of alternative housing in…

With the 2024 Lok Sabha elections around the corner, the candidates contesting in the polls are busy campaigning to garner votes. Every one of them makes their poll promises during these campaigns, but very few of these are fulfilled in reality. Voters in the city want pending issues to be addressed. Meanwhile, various civic groups in the city have a plethora of demands that they are putting forward for the political parties and their candidates representing the different constituencies in Chennai. Here are a few such demands that the civic groups in Chennai would like to highlight for the progress…

Chennai North is a Lok Sabha constituency composed of the assembly segments including Royapuram, Kolathur, T.V.K.Nagar, Perambur, Thiruvottiyur and Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar. This constituency elected its first Member of Parliament in 1957. The incumbent MP is Dr. Kalanidhi Veeraswamy. Chennai North is not only home to many red-category industries that stretch from North Chennai through Manali to Ennore but also hosts the city’s largest garbage dump — Kodungaiyur dump yard. The constituency has two coal-fired power plants and their ash dumps, coal stacking yards, a 10.5 million tonnes/year petroleum refinery, dozens of petrochemical industries, fertiliser plants, three large ports and…

One of the three Lok Sabha constituencies representing the city, Chennai South comprises localities maintained by two different civic bodies: Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and Tambaram Corporation. And thus, the issues prevailing in the constituency are also contrasting. While the localities under Tambaram Corporation are grappling with the lack of basic amenities, those under GCC require improvement in the amenities provided decades ago. Sholinganallur is one of the largest assembly constituencies, with a voter base of six lakh. Chennai South constituency boasts a highly educated populace, with a significant presence of IT industries and educational institutions. Unique to this area…