Chidambaram sowed, son reaps: Anti-incumbency plays against Karti in TN

For Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s son Karti, who is contesting Lok Sabha polls for the first time, his father’s political history is hardly an advantage. Contesting from Sivaganga, Karti Chidambaram’s maiden run has been further complicated by the challenge he faces due to the anti-incumbency wave against Congress. [caption id=“attachment_1444031” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Chidambaram along with son Karti. PTI[/caption] Chidambaram who has been elected from the same constituency since 1984, has now been replaced by Karti who is running on a Congress ticket. The Telegraph reports that not only is Karti facing anti-incumbency, he also has to deal with the Congress’ inability to forge electoral alliances with any other party contesting in Tamil Nadu. “This has so emboldened the three main candidates — the AIADMK’s PR Senthilnathan, the BJP’s H. Raja and the DMK’s SP Durariraj — that they have confined the contest to themselves,” the report says. Karti who has been hoping that the Dalits and Muslims will vote in his favour, has now realised that support from those segments will be difficult to win this time. The report says: “Even at Ilayangudi, a small town that is predominantly Muslim, the anti-incumbency against Chidambaram, visible elsewhere across Sivaganga, is equally palpable. This growing anger against PC has boosted the confidence of the BJP candidate, Raja, a diminutive lawyer who had in 1999 pushed the Union minister to the third spot when Chidambaram had contested with no major allies, like now.” Read more here.