Rice bowl in focus

Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, May 5 (UNI) The Cauvery Delta districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam, the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu, will witness an interesting battle at the hustings with both the DMK-led DPA and the AIADMK sweating it out for the victory of their canditates in 20 seats in the region.

The district lies in the Eastern Coast of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur was the cultural capital of the country in 1790. It gained prominence during the period of Chola Kings, who made it their capital.

The cultural, architectural and scholarly excellence of the ancient Thanjavur are reflected in the great monuments in this area.

Now, the granary of the South has an interesting array of 152 candidates in the three districts vying for seats in the Assembly, the prominent among them being Ko Si Mani of the DMK who is the sitting MLA from Kumbakonam and AIADMK Minister R Vaithilingam who is contesting from Orathanadu.

The Congress, PMK and the Left (under the DPA) and MDMK (belonging to the AIADMK Front) have also fielded their candidates.

With 70 per cent of the population dependent on agriculture and living mostly in rural areas, the issues of the farmers' including water and loans for cultivation occupy primary importance.

Both the DMK-led DPA and AIADMK combine have offered to waive cooperative loans if voted to power.

The DMK's offer of two acre of wasteland to each landless farmer promises to capture the imagination of the people.

UNI XR GM SI KP1930