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 a maze of roads with high traffic of diesel-powered heavy vehicles.
These industries have also polluted the air, water and land in this region, which has impacted the livelihood of the inland fishers. Several studies point out that the people in the region have a range of health issues from respiratory problems to cancer due to industrial pollution. The areas in this constituency also face flooding issues almost all the monsoons.
At a glance
| Constituency Name | North Chennai |
| Number of voters (2019) | 14,68,523 |
| Male voters | 7,20,113 |
| Female voters | 7,47,943 |
| Other voters | 447 |
Find your polling booth
Use your EPIC number in the voter ID cards to find the booth information here.
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Key candidates contesting from the Chennai North constituency
| 2024 | Candidate | Sex | Party | Age | Education | No.of criminal cases | Total Assets | Total Liabilities |
| 1 | Dr Kalanidhi Veerasamy | Male | DMK | 54 | M.B.B.S., M.S. (General Surgery), M.Ch. (Plastic Surgery), FRCSEd | Nil | Rs 61.06 Cr | Rs 37.82 Cr |
| 2 | R Manohar | Male | AIADMK | 57 | B.Tech, M.Tech, MBA | Nil | Rs 52.42 Cr | Rs 9.15 Cr |
| 3 | RC Paul Kanagaraj | Male | BJP | 58 | B L | 1 | Rs 16.92 Cr | Rs 6.20 Cr |
The full list of candidates and their affidavits can be accessed from the ECI web portal
The profile of the incumbent MP, Dr Kalanidhi Veerasamy can be accessed here.
The exclusive interview we did with Dr Kalanidhi Veerasamy can be found here.
Past elections results
| 2019 | Candidate | Sex | Party | Age | Vote Share (%) |
| 1 | Dr Kalanidhi Veerasamy | Male | DMK | 49 | 61.85% |
| 2 | Alagaapuram R Mohanraj | Male | DMDK | 70 | 13.55% |
| 3 | A G Mourya | Male | MNM | 67 | 10.8% |
| 2014 | Candidate | Sex | Party | Age | Vote Share (%) |
| 1 | Venkatesh Babu TG | M | ADMK | 63 | 44.69% |
| 2 | Girirajan R | M | DMK | 69 | 33.73% |
| 3 | Soundarapandian M | M | DMDK | 61 | 9.56% |
Key issues
The industrial pollution in the region is one of the major issues in the constituency. The December 2023 rains inundated many homes in here and the oil spill that followed, spread far and wide. The oil entered the homes of the people along with the flooded water causing dermatological issues among residents.
Before the people could take a breather from the floods and the oil spill, the ammonia gas leak from Coromandel International Limited (CIL) fertiliser company led to the hospitalisation of nearly 50 people in and around Ennore. Following the recent incident of the gas leak, the villagers in and around Ennore started a sit-in protest (still ongoing for almost two months).
Read more: Constituency round-up: No MLA till date has acted on relocating dumpyard, say voters in Perambur
In the first week of January, North Chennai MP Kalanidhi Veerasamy submitted a petition to the Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, urging him to take steps to close the Coromandel International Limited fertilizer plant in Ennore permanently.
Another issue that has been a bone of contention with residents is the proposed expansion of the Kattupalli Port run by the Adani Group, which is located near Ennore in North Chennai.
The private port began operations in 2013. According to a report in The Wire, “In 2018, a subsidiary of the Adani Group acquired the Kattupalli Port from Larsen and Toubro Limited. A month later, the Group proposed a huge expansion plan for the port. Currently, the proposal is to expand the port to increase its cargo handling capacity from 24.65 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 320 MTPA. This will mean that more area will come under the Port — from 330 acres currently, to 6,111 acres, as per the revised master plan. Of this, 2,000 acres will be created by dumping dredged sand into the sea.”
The mangroves, paddy cultivation lands, wetlands, marshlands and sand dunes are proposed to be acquired for this purpose. Experts say that the expansion will claim around 2,000 acres of Pulicat Lake, endangering the biodiverse estuarine system.
Several fisher communities in the region rely on it for their livelihoods. Besides, it will also lead to flooding during the rains, not only in the North Chennai region but also across all parts of Chennai. As many as ten lakh people are likely to be affected by the port construction, both directly and indirectly.
The public hearing for the port expansion project was scheduled to be held in September 2023. However, it was postponed due to expected public protest.
On September 8, 2023, the Chennai Climate Action Group (CCAG) inaugurated ‘Strokes of Solidarity – Voices for Chennai’s Future,’ an art exhibition against the Kattupalli Mega Port. Kalanidhi Veerasamy, who took part in the art exhibition, promised that the State Government will not let the Kattupalli Adani Port Expansion project happen and that the DMK will oppose all plans to go ahead with this project.
Candidates in the news
Media mentions of the incumbent MP Dr Kalanidhi Veerasamy have been included in his profile.
The AIADMK candidate, R Manohar, in a recent interview with Times of India, has promised to bring facilities on par with South Chennai like hospitals, universities and railway terminals. He has also commented that they cannot close the thermal power plants causing the pollution in North Chennai but will have to work towards reducing the impact.
Meanwhile, the BJP candidate, RC Paul Kanagaraj, says that an interdepartmental coordinated effort is required to bring a solution to the issues of industrial pollution in North Chennai. On his poll promises, he says that he does not want to make fake promises but assures to form a youth group to solve the problems in the constituency.