TRICHY: The narrow country road leading to V Thuraiyur, a remote hamlet 15 kilometers north of Lalgudi, a farming district in central Tamil Nadu state, was crowded with villagers on both sides as campaign vehicles passed by. Sitting in the car was AIADMK candidate Leema Rose Martin, the wife of lottery tycoon Santiago Martin and the richest candidate in Tamil Nadu. Her motorcade stopped when a family asked her to name their 15-day-old baby girl. Leema Rose stepped out of her car wearing a bright silk sari and said yes. “Leema Rose,” she named the child after herself, making the young mother smile. It’s a Hindu family, but the woman said she wouldn’t change Lima Rose’s name. Moments like this and the warm welcome are beginning to unnerve the DMK, which has been occupying Raghudi seat for the past two decades. Ragudi has always been an important constituency for the DMK – Kankillianur, the hometown of Municipal Administration Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and Ambil, the hometown of Education Minister Ambir Mahesh Boyamozhi, are part of this constituency. DMK took a gamble and dropped four-time MLA A Soundara Pandian and fielded a new face T Parivallal. The move was not popular with party supporters. Vijay’s TVK has fielded former AIADMK minister Ku Pa Krishnan. The DMK nominated Parivaral in the hope that the party’s grassroots strength would help him get through. But what I didn’t expect was that the AIADMK fielded Leema Rose. When Leema, who joined the party in February this year, got the party ticket, no one in the AIADMK opposed it. The accepted answer and the enthusiastic campaigning by the AIADMK rank and file are in the Lima poll affidavit. Her declared assets are Rs 1,049 crore. Her family assets, including those of her husband Martin, exceed Rs 5,000 crore. Her net worth is much higher than the combined annual budgets of Ragudi municipality and Purambadi and Powalur town panchayats in the constituency. Lima is counting on more than just money power. She is from the Udayal community and is a Christian, while Ragudi is both. Even before announcing her candidacy, Lima began campaigning. “AIADMK is strong in Ragudi too, but DMK won because our past candidates did not put up a tough fight. Leema is filling this vacuum,” said a party official.
