Chennai Central results on May 23 saw the DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran emerging the winner. He beat his nearest rivals Sam Paul (PMK) and Kameela Nasser (MNM) with a comfortable margin.
Chennai Central is a diverse constituency with a wide cross-section of voters belonging to all socio-economic classes. There is cultural diversity as well – a sizeable Hindi and Urdu speaking population, apart from Telugus and Malayalis. It has a significant Muslim population – over 2 lakhs – in Chepauk – Triplicane and Egmore assembly constituencies.
Chennai Central Parliamentary constituency is comprised of six assembly constituencies — Villivakkam, Egmore (SC), Harbour, Chepauk-Triplicane, Thousand Lights and Anna Nagar.
According to the Election Commission of India’s website, the constituency has a total of 13,32,135 voters. The constituency went to polls on April 18, 2019 in the second phase of the 17th Lok Sabha elections. Chennai Central registered 57.05 % voter turnout.
| S.No | Candidate | Name of Party | Number of votes | Vote share |
| 1 | Dayanidhi Maran | DMK | 448911 | 57.15 |
| 2 | Sam Paul | PMK | 147391 | 18.77 |
| 3 | Kameela Nasser | MNM | 92249 | 11.74 |
Source: ECI
Background
Dayanidhi Maran is the son of former Union Minister Murasoli Maran (who represented the constituency thrice) and grand nephew of the late DMK Patriarch M Karunanidhi, Dayanidhi Maran is a well known name in Chennai Central constituency. He won the Lok Sabha polls twice from this constituency, before losing to S R Vijaya Kumar of the AIADMK in 2014.
Dayanidhi Maran served as Minister for Communication and Information Technology during his first term as MP. After his reelection he was handed the Textiles portfolio. He has been credited with increasing telecom penetration in the country and attracting foreign investments in the sector.
The detailed affidavit filed by him can be viewed here.
Financial details of the candidate
| Movable
Assets |
Rs 3,65,15,154 (self) + Rs 3,09,20,173 (spouse) |
| Immovable
Assets |
Rs 59,000 (self) |
| Liabilities | Nil |
Source: ECI
Number of Criminal Cases: 1
- 1 charges related to Criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent (IPC Section-409)
- 1 charges related to Forgery of valuable security, will, etc. (IPC Section-467)
- 1 charges related to Falsification of accounts (IPC Section-477A)
- 1 charges related to Using as genuine a forged document or electronic record (IPC Section-471)
Maran has been accused in a case of misuse of his official position as Telecom Minister to set up telephone exchanges on his property, that was used by Sun Network, owned by his brother. The Central Bureau of Investigation has been directed by the Madras HC, in March 2019, to complete the proceedings with regard to this case in four months.
Promises for the constituency
Maran’s poll promises centered on improving infrastructure, combating resource scarcity – mainly water – and creating jobs.
On the subject of unemployment, Maran said that his focus will be on creating enough employment opportunities for the youth in his constituency by ensuring a suitable climate for start-ups. He blamed the GST regime for crippling businesses leading to job loss and lowered salaries. He also promised to find avenues for skill development to make youth employable.
With his constituency and the rest of the city facing a severe water shortage, Maran batted for the increase in capacity of existing desalination plants and the setting up of more such plants to convert seawater to meet the needs of the people.
Maran also took note of the traffic woes plaguing the constituency and said that he would ensure the setting up of better automated traffic management systems.
He also stated that he will ensure basic amenities such as sanitation are available to all people in his constituency.