Amidst a flock of affluent candidates contesting the April 6 Assembly election in Tamil Nadu, K. Marimuthu, the candidate of the Communist Party of India (CPI) for the Thiruthuraipoondi (Reserved) constituency in Tiruvarur district, stands out in stark contrast.
The 49-year-old political activist, who lives in a thatched house in Kaduvakudi, has spent over half his life as a full-time party worker fighting for public causes. His wife, Jayasudha, is an agricultural labourer.
Mr. Marimuthu, who was born into a family of poor agricultural labourers belonging to a Scheduled Caste, makes light of his economic condition. “Politics is my life, and I have no other vocation. My wife is into agriculture, and we cultivate land taken on lease. We get by with whatever we have,” says Mr. Marimuthu, whose two children are in high school.
Articulate and well-informed, Mr. Marimuthu, a commerce graduate, joined the CPI in 1994. He was drawn by the work done by the party for ordinary people as he was “one among them”. “Serving the masses is my only aim; reflecting the aspirations of the downtrodden is my politics,” affirms Mr. Marimuthu, who is currently the Kottur Union secretary of the CPI.
The constituency has a large concentration of marginal farmers and landless daily-wage labourers. “If elected, I will strive to ensure that the benefits of government schemes reach these labourers, many of whom live on poramboke and temple lands. I will strive to get house site pattas for them,” he says.
The lack of job opportunities in the constituency is another concern for him. “Many youngsters migrate to other districts for jobs. I will explore the feasibility of establishing a paper manufacturing unit as paddy straw is abundant here,” he adds.
Since the constituency is economically, socially and educationally backward, he plans to consult experts to evolve plans for the development of the region and prevent seawater intrusion. He says he will work on the preservation of mangrove forests in the Muthupet lagoon and tourism promotion.
Mr. Marimuthu, who filed his nomination on Wednesday, has declared in his affidavit that his wife owns the ancestral house where the family lives, and 75 cents of agricultural land, totally valued at ₹1.75 lakh. He has ₹3,000 in hand and ₹58,000 in his bank account. His wife has ₹1,000 in hand and ₹3,000 in her bank account. His wife and daughter own about three sovereigns of gold jewellery.
Though Thiruthuraipoondi is a Communist heartland and candidates of the Left parties have won here 11 times since 1962, the CPI, while contesting as part of the Makkal Nala Kootani, lost the seat to the DMK in 2016.
With his rich on-field experience, Mr. Marimuthu is confident of restoring the party’s pride in the constituency this time around.
