THOOTHUKUDI: As the poll fever picks up in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi, a district which also witnessed the violent anti-Sterlite protest against Vedanta group and subsequent police firing in 2018, Express spoke with state BJP chief Tamilsai Soundararajan, who will be taking on DMK's Kanimozhi in Lok Sabha elections 2019.
Thoothukudi should develop but opposition parties are trying to harvest votes using the unfortunate incident: Tamilisai
Thoothukudi is a tough constituency for the BJP and the AIADMK given the police firing that ended in the death of 14 people. But Tamilisai believes that there is more to the region and that conversation needs to move beyond it.
The 57-year-old state BJP president, always travels with a stethoscope.
“It has become an extension of my body. When I travel, if I see people in need of medical assistance, I try to help them in whatever way I can,” she said, explaining the presence of the medical device in her campaign vehicle.
It is easy to forget that the voluble politician is a practising physician, given the incessant and sometimes unkind media coverage that she gets.
What is rarely reported, however, is that, in person, she exudes warmth and confidence, even as she meets several people, makes speeches — functioning on less than four hours of sleep - while campaigning to be elected from the Thoothukudi parliamentary constituency.
The day, for this self-proclaimed daughter of the soil, begins at 6 am. Before she sets out to campaign at 7.30am, she meets with party cadre and leaders of allied parties.
“I never missed a day without yoga, but during the campaign, it is hard for me to allocate much time to it,” she rued.
“I get to bed only by 1.30am during the campaign. I have to respect each and every cadre and member of public or media person who comes to meet me. I try to spend at least two minutes with every person,” she said.
“This region should develop but opposition parties are trying to harvest votes using the unfortunate incident,” she said.
“Nobody is justifying the firing. People understand reality. At not even one place have people protested against the BJP during my campaign. People have accepted me,” she said.
She wants to tap into the natural resources here for development.
“There are fishing, salt industries, palm plantation and related businesses and drumstick plantations here. I will make every effort to give job opportunities to every family, in every village in the constituency,” she assured.
The contest between two high-profile women - Tamilisai and DMK’s MK Kanimozhi - has drawn much attention to the constituency. Tamilisai admits that two women facing off against each other was a welcome development. “There was a time where there were very few women in politics. There is a good healthy fight between us and I appreciate it,” she noted.
Nonetheless, she believed Kanimozhi was carrying out a negative campaign against her.
“I laugh when she says I’m new to the constituency. In 2006, I contested from Radhapuram during the Assembly elections. We have lived in the erstwhile Tiruchendur constituency (before bifurcation), which comprised parts of Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli,” she said, adding that people were affectionate towards her.
Over the course of this conversation, Tamilisai campaigned in the 20 villages of Kovilpatti taluk, travelling in her campaign van. She also met with State minister Kadambur C Raju who is the MLA from Kovilpatti. He accompanied her on some part of the campaign. Wherever she went women took arathis and selfies with her.
“I plan the campaign a day ahead, whether it be by road, from the van or door-to-door. It depends on which area I am planning to visit. Ultimately I wish to connect with the people always,” she explained.
The campaign trail is, in fact, a feature of her childhood. Like Kanimozhi, Tamilisai is the daughter of a prominent politician - Kumari Ananthan of the Congress.
Her uncle H Vasanthakumar is contesting against her party colleague Pon Radhakrishnan in the Kanniyakumari constituency.
“I would observe what my father spoke and how people reacted, how to get things done from cadre during elections, how to be people-friendly,” she smiled.
“My first campaign was in 1979, after Emergency. MGR had made a coalition with small parties, including my father’s Gandhi Kamaraj National Congress. My father contested in Thiruvottiyur on the ‘rose’ symbol. I drew the symbol on a flash card and was canvassing for votes for my father,” she recalled. On the last day of the campaign, MGR came to campaign for my father. He took the flash card I’d drawn on and showed it to people while campaigning,” she grinned.
Considering the difference in campaigning then and now, she noted that in the past everything was spontaneous.
“People would gather on their own. Now everything is tailored. We have to look at each and every aspect and be very calculative. Everything is tech-oriented and digital now. But the ultimate aim remains the same - to get the confidence of the voters,” she said.
For a woman it is not easy to put up with the kind of character assassination and personal comments that happen in politics: Kanimozhi
After years in the public eye, coming from one of the most influential political families in the country, 51-year-old MK Kanimozhi will be facing her first direct election next week.
For the two-time Rajya Sabha member, daughter of late DMK chief M Karunanidhi and sister of the current party chief MK Stalin, the journey has not been as easy as might be expected.
Accused in the alleged 2G spectrum scam and imprisoned, the poet-politician was acquitted in December 2017.
Just about 14 months after the verdict, there is little sign of the turmoil she may have undergone as she goes about her day in Thoothukudi, where she is contesting from, campaigning and meeting party workers.
Her day starts early, ideally with a workout or a short walk. Then comes coffee and the newspapers — before she entered politics, she worked as a journalist — at her home at Kurunji Nagar.
“I get up early in the morning regardless of how late I go to bed. My schedule depends on what is there in the morning. Sometimes I have to meet party workers, sometimes I have to go out... Otherwise, I go out to campaign,” she said.
The Thoothukudi election is closely watched, given as it features two high-profile women. Kanimozhi finds a lot to appreciate in her opponent, BJP State president Tamilisai Soundararajan.
“For a woman it is not easy to put up with the kind of character assassination and personal comments that happen in politics. She has also been subjected to it in a big way and her resilience is something I appreciate,” she said.
On the day, Express spent with her, Kanimozhi, who is also secretary of the DMK’s women’s wing, meets with party workers to go over her campaign schedule before setting off to do a TV interaction.
After lunch, she meets cadre and members of the public and has a chat with CPI state secretary Mutharasan. It is 3pm before she hits the campaign trail accompanied by Tiruchendur MLA and Thoothukudi south district in-charge Anitha Radhakrishnan.
Kanimozhi travels in a four-seater campaign van, fitted with a podium, trailed by three other vehicles. On the schedule: villages in Sathankulam Taluk. The campaign stops are decided upon by a team headed by the district secretary a day ahead.
Her speeches are made from the podium and last less than 10 minutes at each stop. Between stops she chews on candy to keep her throat from getting dry.
“I visited every taluk for the party Grama Sabha meetings so I know what are the specific issues in each area,” she explained. But why Thoothukudi?
“I have been connected to the southern districts for a long time, especially Thoothukudi. I have worked here as a party cadre. There are a lot of opportunities to work for the development of the constituency as there are not many industries and a lot of untapped potentials. That is why I chose this constituency,” she said.
According to her, the key issues here are employment and water scarcity.
“Because of GST and demonetisation, small and medium industries have been affected to large extent... Water is another problem. Most of the waterbodies have not been desilted. A lot of the water projects brought by the DMK government to the region have not been maintained or completed,” she said.
She believes there is a good reception to the manifestos of the DMK and its ally, the Congress. “People are ready to throw the BJP-AIADMK alliance out of power,” she claimed.
While campaigning, she tells voters that Sterlite will be kept closed, as per their wishes.
Through the day, she keeps a tab on the model code of conduct and instructs cadre not to litter in public places or commit any code violation.
The campaign trail, of course, is not new for her. “I accompanied my father on several campaigns because I was interested in watching how he campaigned... He would remember the details of every town, village, streets and the functionaries there,” she recalled. Karunanidhi’s death last August left a void. “It’s a personal void. I’m sure my brother Stalin also feels it,” she said.
She notes that campaigning is a bit different now.
“Initially, when I would go for campaigns with my father, there was no time restriction for canvassing. He would start campaigning in the evening and go on till the next morning. People would stop him and ask him to speak for at least five minutes and he would oblige, no matter how few people there were,” Kanimozhi recalled.
“In a way, it’s for the better. But the spontaneity is something I miss. Now we have to take permission for everything... but you still have to connect with the people,” she pointed out.
By 10 pm, Kanimozhi has covered at least 24 villages and sets back to Thoothukudi, reaching close to midnight. At the end of the day she said, “I should deliver what people expect. I should never let them down.”