At the peak of the last Lok Sabha campaign on April 27, 2004, a huge evening crowd at Tirupur Town Hall heard Vaiko demolish Jayalalithaa. Since then a lot has changed in these parts, apart from Vaiko himself. Tirupur is a new municipal corporation, a new district and a new Lok Sabha constituency.

All this you hear within the first half hour of your arrival. After the pleasantries, however, no one is getting down to business lost. Which as it turns out is no big poll issue in this export town. Strange, because at the best of times Tamil politicians need no lessons in amplifying distress—local, global or across the Palk Strait. And there are sure signs of an election around.

The candidates do acknowledge that there is a problem. Businessman-turned-Jaya loyalist Sivasamy has, however, worked out more solutions than the problem warrants—uninterrupted power supply, super fast commuter trains, labour hostels, model ESI hospitals, ample water for dyeing, a 250-km pipeline all the way to the coast to flush out waste water. The only way to stop him is to change the topic to Lankan Tamils. “Amma alone can decide that and we’ll follow.” The pause long enough to bid him goodbye.

The AIADMK rival’s pause button is no secret to Congressman Karvendan. “He can’t get an audience with Jayalalithaa in 24 days while I can meet Dr Manmohan Singh in 24 hours. And who but an economist can handle this crisis?” Also having raised a record number of parliamentary questions (all of 1177, the highest for a south Indian MP and the third highest nationally) this sitting MP from Palani can ask a few more if Tirupur sends him back to Parliament.

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