The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has begun grassroot-level mobilisation in the Kancheepuram parliamentary constituency, where the party has pitted 31-year-old Maragatham Kumaravel against MDMK’s Mallai Sathya, the Congress party’s P Viswanathan and DMK’s G Selvam for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
“The Kancheepuram parliamentary seat has 11 panchayat unions, nine town panchayats and four municipalities,” AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP and constituency in-charge Dr V Maitreyan told Express. “Each panchayat union like Kattangulathur, Thirukazhukundram and Thirporur has some 40-50 panchayats under it. The party has about six divisional secretaries for each panchayat,” he said.
On Sunday, Maitreyan held a meeting with the party divisional secretaries of Kattangulathur panchayat union, which comprises 39 panchayats. Similar interactions will be held with the grassroot-level functionaries in other panchayat unions. “The objective is to motivate the party workers to conduct door-to-door campaign and tell the cadre to come out in full force on polling day,” Maitreyan said.
AIADMK candidate Maragatham, who is making her electoral debut, is set to file her nomination papers on April 1. Besides Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who has already begun her campaign in the constituency, party’s deputy propaganda secretary Nanjil Sampath and platform speakers like Nirmala Periyaswamy have addressed meetings. Actor-politician Sarath Kumar is scheduled to campaign for the AIADMK candidate in the coming week, Maitreyan added.
MDMK Hits Trail
Meanwhile, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) candidate Mallai Sathya campaigned in the Maduranthakam Assembly reserved segment on Sunday. “I plan to file my nomination on April 3,” he told Express.
The MDMK candidate received a shot in the arm, when DMDK chief Vijaykanth campaigned in favour of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Kancheepuram on March 27. Sathya said while MDMK general secretary Vaiko was slated to address meetings in the constituency in the second week of April, Gandhiya Makkal Iyakkam leader Tamilaruvi Manian and BJP national secretary Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan would campaign in the coming week.