Lok Sabha 2019 constituency: Prestige battle for AIADMK at CM Palaniswami’s hometown Salem
The Gounders, an intermediary caste of landowners and now entrepreneurs, classified as backward, comprise up to 40% of the population in these districts, and form the foundation of AIADMK’s loyal vote bank. Chief minister Palaniswami belongs to this caste group.
Salem Lok Sabha constituency is located in western Tamil Nadu. This region is considered a fortress of the ruling AIADMK. In the 2016 assembly polls; the party won 41 out of the 47 seats in the region’s Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Salem, Erode, Karur and Namakkal districts.
Salem is also the home town of chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) and he has been campaigning extensively in this region. The Gounders, an intermediary caste of landowners and now entrepreneurs, classified as backward, comprise up to 40% of the population in these districts, and form the foundation of AIADMK’s loyal vote bank. Chief minister Palaniswami belongs to this caste group.
V Pannerselvam of the AIADMK won this seat in 2014 Lok Sabha elections by over 2.6 lakh votes. He defeated DMK candidate S Umarani. In 2019, KRS Saravanan of AIADMK will battle it out in Salem with DMK’s SR Parthiban.
Tamil Nadu will vote in a single phase on April 18. The results will be declared on May 23.
Here are a few details about the Salem Lok Sabha seat:
State: Tamil Nadu
Name of the Lok Sabha constituency: Salem
2019 candidates: KRS Saravanan of AIADMK, SR Parthiban of DMK
Polling date: April 18
Sitting MP, party: V Pannerselvam, AIADMK
Winning margin in 2014: 267610
Runner up name, party: S Umarani, DMK
Number of voters in 2014: 1150296
Percentage of votes polled in 2014: 76.7%
Number of women voters in 2014: 556513
Number of polling booths in 2014: 1,648
