On Tuesday evening, 50-year-old B Anandababu stood outside the Chief Minister’s Mini Stadium in Kolathur, watching his teenage son play badminton. Dressed in a red t-shirt and jeans, Anandababu said his family had voted for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam for decades. The stadium, which offers badminton and swimming facilities, is one of several development projects sanctioned by former Chief Minister MK Stalin during his tenure as Kolathur’s MLA.For Anandababu, Stalin’s defeat in the state elections in April from Kolathur was deeply upsetting. When the former chief minister visited the constituency the day after the results were announced, Anandababu deliberately stayed away. “I could have waited to see him before going to work, but I didn’t,” he said. “I felt like crying that day.”Stalin lost the seat to VS Babu, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam candidate, by a margin of just over 8,000 votes. His visit was meant to thank constituents he had represented for three consecutive terms. Until the TVK won the elections, party leader Vijay was best known as a movie superstar.A month after the results, the public projects that Stalin left behind in brick-and-mortar continue to draw crowds. Behind the badminton courts, the swimming pool was packed with children learning to swim, churning the water as instructors guided them through their lessons.Many projects bear Stalin's smiling portrait alongside the slogan, “Engal Mudhalvar, Engal Perumai” (Our Chief Minister, Our Pride). Residents say these initiatives have helped transform their ooru or neighbourhood into what many describe as a model constituency.“My son plays badminton here, my wife walks in the park near the temple, and I use the marriage hall for some events,” Anandababu said, listing how much his neighbourhood has become public friendly. “Have you seen the marriage hall? It is as big as the Taj Mahal. It’s a real ‘wow’ moment.”B Anandababu at the Chief Minister’s Mini Stadium in Kolathur. Credit: Sowmiya AshokaScroll visited the Perarignar Anna Marriage Hall, named after the DMK founder CN Annadurai, where preparations were underway for the wedding of two Kolathur residents, Jagan and Mahalakshmi. The building was every bit as imposing as Anandababu had described.The election results delivered a stunning upset for the DMK and ushered in a change of government in Tamil Nadu after a decades-long Dravidian duopoly. Since 1977, power in the state had alternated between the DMK and AIADMK.More than a month later, the outcome continues to dominate everyday conversations. “My son has a black dot on his forehead because his grandmother insists he wear one like Vijay, whom she sees on television every day,” Anandababu said. Since taking office, Chief Minister Vijay has frequently appeared in a black suit with a black dot on his forehead, a distinctive look that has begun to catch on among some of his admirers.Across the road, outside Sampath Hairstylist, R Elappan, 71, a resident of GKM Colony, insisted that Stalin had transformed his “ooru” from a forgotten corner of the city into a thriving neighbourhood.“We shouldn’t say Stalin lost. That’s the wrong word,” he said. “Tamil people have a tendency to give political parties a chance for only five years. We like going back and forth between parties. Think about the Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa days. Just as Stalin got only five years, Vijay will also only get five years.”Elappan, who said his admiration for former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had made him a Bharatiya Janata Party supporter, nevertheless voted for the DMK in state elections. When he was young, he had once seen Stalin as a college lad and had taken a liking to the then young politician. He even found a similarity, both him and Stalin, he said, moved around with a group of friends.“Stalin has worked hard for this constituency and that’s why I respected him and voted for him,” he said. “He has done a lot specifically for Butmedu,” he said, referring to the neighbourhood by its old name.Like many Kolathur residents, Elappan pointed in different directions to describe what once stood there – usually a swamp, a vacant plot or an overgrown field – and what has replaced it: swanky public facilities. “That mini stadium over there used to be swampy land where water would stagnate. Look at it now!”Around Elappan, his friends chipped in about playgrounds, study centres, a market complex, bus stands, hospitals, schools, colleges and even a gym exclusively for women.R Elappan is a resident of GKM Colony in Kolathur. Credit: Sowmiya AshokBut Elappan, after listing Stalin’s accomplishments, grew reflective about the DMK’s defeat in this constituency. “The DMK is responsible for its own loss,” he said. “They didn’t do enough fieldwork during the elections. After winning here three times, they became careless and complacent. They assumed they would win again.”He said he recalled seeing Stalin when he had visited Kolathur the day after the results. “He looked sad,” Elappan said. “But what’s the point? It is like the saying, ‘kan ketta piragu Surya Namaskaram’” – offering prayers to the sun after losing one’s eyesight.On Kolathur’s streets, reactions to the election results and the new government varied. Visalakshmi, 62, a flower seller, was annoyed that officials threw her flower cart aside each time Stalin visited the constituency over the past five years.In protest, she voted for Vijay. Babu, a bicycle repairman, took the opposite view. In his opinion, Stalin had done enough to deserve another term.Others offered various theories for the upset. Some argued that the DMK had not spent enough money to secure voter loyalty, or that the BJP had propped up Vijay in order to split the Dravidian vote base. A few blamed social media and the internet, saying children influenced their parents’ vote.R Sridhar, who rents out chairs and tables for functions, loudly declared that he had voted for “Thalapathy”. “Not Thalapathy Vijay,” he clarified with a laugh. “I mean Stalin. Vijay is a good actor but that is different from politics!”Flower seller Visalakshmi voted for Stalin because she was angry with the highhanded manner in which government officials behaved during MK Stalin's visits to the area. Credit: Sowmiya AshokOutside a sleek co-working space called “Mudhalvar Padaippagam”, Ramesh*, appreciated the public projects but questioned their timing. He pointed out that most had been inaugurated a year ago eyeing the elections.“People say most of these projects came up only in the last year but I’d say that is fine given the time it took to build them,” he said. “But the condition of the roads were truly pathetic and that could have been addressed much earlier. Fixing roads is a three-month long job, but the roads were only fixed last year too.”At the public park on Amman Koil Street, Jasmine* sat watching a group of women exercise at the outdoor gym. Nearby, two children set themselves a finish line. “Let’s race till that DMK leader’s photo!” one shouted, as they sprinted towards Stalin’s smiling face. In the park’s pond, swans preened themselves, plucking mites from their feathers as instrumental music drifted from overhead speakers. Jasmine was a member of the Ladies Gym that was closed for the day and had come to join several of Kolathur’s walkers around the park.“Are cinema and politics the same thing? Sometimes I feel like we are living in a movie these days,” Jasmine said. “People who know nothing about politics have voted for TVK. I was heartbroken when Stalin lost and Vijay became chief minister.”As a friend joined her on the park bench, Jasmine gestured around at the landscaped grounds. “People keep saying they want change,” she said. “Look around you. This place used to belong to pei, pisasu, palli and pambu [ghosts, lizards and snakes] but now it has beautiful swans and birds.”She recalled avoiding the road beside the park on her way to church because it was so deserted and poorly maintained. “What does maatram [change] mean?” she asked. “Apart from everything you see around you, what more do people want?”Later that evening, the signs of the maatram were visible on the streets of Kolathur. On the 70 Feet Road, TVK’s winning candidate, Babu waved to people drinking lemon tea, from an open car. He was on a roadshow to say thanks.Next to him was a man dressed in a black suit and beard, exactly like Chief Minister Vijay, who also enthusiastically waved at passersby. Amidst the din of a road show, the TVK campaign song rang out: “Unga Vijay Unga Vijay Unga Vijay, Uyirena Varen Naan…” Your Vijay, Your Vijay, I am coming as your life.Except that here on the streets of Kolathur, it was a lookalike of Vijay saying thanks.*Names changed at the request of the interview subjects.Sowmiya Ashok is a journalist in Chennai. She is the author of The Dig: Keeladi and the Politics of India’s Past.