TIRUCHY: With the Assembly election date announced and the summer heat starting to rise, campaign vehicles in Tiruchy and Pudukkottai are being readied with additional sun shades.
In workshops and sheds across both districts and a few other places in the central region of the state, open vehicles are being fitted with foldable canopies, while sound systems powered by inverters are being installed alongside. Parties and candidates, even before the campaign formally picks up pace, have begun quietly getting their vehicles road-ready for the long days ahead.
Across Tiruchy, senior DMK leaders including K N Nehru and Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi have begun preparing customised jeep-type campaign vans which they regularly use. Sources said that Nehru, who represents Tiruchy West, has arranged for two vehicles fitted with alliance party flags, while also ordering a new vehicle even as an older one is being refurbished.
The NTK had announced its candidates months in advance, preparations are more visible. In Thiruverumbur, NTK candidate ‘Jallikattu’ Rajesh is set to kick off his campaign from Suriyur on Wednesday and has readied two new vehicles. Both vehicles have interiors finished in green, reflecting the party’s farmer symbol.
“These vehicles are essential in a constituency like Thiruverumbur, which has a mix of rural and urban pockets. We can cover multiple areas in a day and also reach people well before other parties finalise their candidates,” said Rajesh. The vehicles have been fitted with speakers, microphones and inverter facilities to support long hours of campaigning.
At a workshop in Cantonment, technicians are working round-the-clock, fitting amplifiers and speakers onto campaign vehicles for Rajesh. “We make sure the sound is clear for speeches, but also good enough for campaign songs,” said a shop owner who said the audio systems altogether cost Rs 40,000.
If sound is one part of the campaign, shade is fast becoming another. S Velu, a lathe shop owner in Pudukkottai, said he has designed a foldable sun shade mounted on a goods carriage vehicle for Pudukkottai Assembly seat’s NTK candidate V Ezhilarasi.
“The idea is to protect the candidate from heat without blocking visibility. It can be folded away depending on the crowd. People shouldn’t feel the candidate is standing comfortably while they are in the sun,” he said. The modification alone cost about Rs 15,000.
Velu is also reworking a second-hand vehicle for another candidate, expected to be ready within a week. On average, refurbishing an old van costs Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000, he added, while major parties typically rely on vehicles they already own, upgrading them for the campaign.
The KBM Workshop in Alangudi road is currently refurbishing a minister’s campaign vehicle. “We worked on this same vehicle during the 2024 elections too. Usually, our job is fixing basic issues, touching up dents and giving it a fresh coat of paint so it looks new. But this time, they are asking for more changes, mainly because of the heat,” one worker said.
With temperatures set to rise further in the coming weeks, these additions — from sun shades to sound systems — double up as show and necessity, with candidates preparing for long hours on road in the summer heat, trying to reach as many voters as possible.