Elections 2019: In Madurai, a rockstar writer revives the Communists

As CPI Marxist candidate and Sahitya Akademi Award winner Su Venkatesan wraps up his speech on the last day of canvassing in Madurais Jaihindpuram and gets off his campaign van he is instantly mobbedStrapping young men of the Students Federation of India and the Democratic Youth Federation of India clad in a cool shade of maroon quickly muscle in and throw a protective cordon against their precious asset Venkatesan still manages to pose for selfieseekers and pumps several fists like a consummate politician even as he is led away to his waiting carA stranger may mistake Venkatesan for a movie star or a charismatic Dravidian politician He is neither He is a writer He has just two works of fiction in his name But boy what books they are The first Kaval Kottam is a 600year epic set in Madurai that unfolds over 1000 captivating pages A literary classic it won Venkatesan the 2011 Sahitya Akademy Award More recently his second work Vel Pari a fictionalised history of the Sangamera tribal chieftain was serialised over 100 weeks in the leading Tamil magazine Vikatan Vel Pari took Venkatesan into lakhs of homes and made him an instant hitListening to him speak about the ancient excavation sites of Keezhadi to issues of social justice to the need for a Metro system in Madurai is like being transported through different worlds People throng his campaign rallies as much to get their copies of his books signed as to listen to his political ideas As he finishes his speeches hands go up in the crowd holding copies of either Kaval Kottam or Vel Pari The books then get passed towards Venkatesans van He obliges all of themThough his writing honours are significant Venkatesan is no political mug He is a longtime CPIM member and cut his teeth under twotime Marxist MP P Mohan Madurai predominantly voted Congress since independence till the late Mohan came riding along in his moped and turned the city into a Communist bastion with his twin Parliamentary wins in 1999 and 2004 Ten years after the money and muscle of DMK strongman M K Alagiri overpowered an ailing Mohan Venkatesan has picked up the batonMohan is still very popular with the people here Venkatesan said at the CPIM office They see me through the same prism They understand his contribution to the city and tell me they want me to carry on in the same vein Its a huge advantageIssues galoreDespite Mohans best efforts Madurai has languished in the last 10 years Drinking water scarcity is the foremost problem I am really worried how the city will manage next month in peak summer The situation is distressing said VenkatesanThe state government last year promised a PeriyarVaigai riverlinking project but hasnt allotted any budget for it Venkatesan says he will push for it if elected The city has also not seen much industrial growth Urban transport and infrastructure is a mess in what can only be described as an urban village Joblessness is as much a worry as in the rest of the country There are around 120 small rubber units in and around Madurai I want to make them the foundation for a rubber industrial park and a rubber RampD centre These will create more jobs Developing and enabling small industries is a key to solve unemployment There are only two big IT companies in Madurai Even if only two more set up shop here employment in the sector will go up from 5000 to 10000 His chief opponent is Raj Sathyan 36 the son of former Mayor Rajan Chellappa The ADMK is rumoured to be distributing 300 per vote in households But Venkatesan feels antiincumbency would take its toll People are unhappy with the ADMK And his father did zilch for the city when he was mayor said Venkatesan What also could work in Venkatesans favour is that he has the traditional might of the DMK and the support of its grassroots workers It is good to have the backing of a big state party he saidThe excavation of Keezhadi is the issue that is closest to Venkatesans heart In 2016 an Archaeological Survey of India excavation discovered an ancient settlement in a village near Madurai The settlement dates back to the second century A section of Tamil academics allege the Union NDA government stopped progress in the excavation Keezhadi is very important because it provides archaeological supporting evidence to things that are found in Sangam literature said Venkatesan Here we have for the first time an entire Sangam era city Only one per cent of the two 100acre mounds have been excavated Even in that we have so much evidence of ancient Tamil civilisation which is at loggerheads with the BJPs idea of Vedic civilisation I will definitely restart the excavation efforts if electedBut how is all this different from BJPs spiel about vedic sciences and its obsession with the past There is a clear distinction between past and tradition said Venkatesan Past rots Tradition lives on and guides ongoing generations 15000 artefacts were found in Keezhadi There isnt one single symbol of god in thatIt shows that this civilisation was present before the time Big Religion came It rattles them It is completely different from BJPs line that everything we see today was present in the pastHope for a Left revivalAll said a Venkatesan win would offer hope for the Left in India albeit in a small way The Communists somewhere along the way lost touch with Indian society he said I think we have addressed that disconnect and are merging Communist thoughts to fit Indian society Social justice and womens rights were always strong in Tamil Nadu We just have to take it forward With the wheels coming off for the Left in Bengal and Kerala in a political landscape that has drifted so far right would not unification help gain prominence even though previous such efforts were stillbornOf course said Venkatesan But it is not in our hands Only time will tell All I can say is that if it happens it is the best solution A Venkatesan win will also show that there is a place in Indian polity for the intellectual or the progressive writer or the social justice warrior Above all it will serve as a reminder in its limited way that India is not all about cow and casteCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates