CHENNAI: In the heart of the city, amidst the blaring of loudspeakers lies a group of makeshift pavement dwellings, and one of those belongs to Logammal, who is aspiring to become the corporator of Ward 59.Living in this pavement dwelling, which encroaches upon government property for the last 40 years, Logammal and her husband Anand Babu have earned enough to meet their ends but they still are homeless and live in this makeshift dwelling on the pavement at Parrys.“We have two shops, a fast food joint and a shop which we are using as a party office,” says Anand Babu, who is the brain behind his wife’s campaign.And he does not want to leave the place like others despite being served notice from the Chennai Corporation as his livelihood is dependent on the two shops.The ward, which Logammal is contesting from on a DMDK ticket, lies near Parrys and has a population of 11,000. It has 1,000 pavement dwellers. They consist of rickshaw pullers, flower sellers and others doing menial jobs or running small time businesses.A fan of actor Vijaykanth, Logammal was an active member in DMDK leader’s fan club and got the ticket three times but had lost all the elections. Now she is banking on her popularity among the pavement dwellers but the biggest challenge for her would be to muster the other 10,000 votes. She is also hoping the support of sizable population of Marwaris in the area.
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