CHENNAI:When all leaders are swirling in the streets to garner votes for their respective candidates, DMK working president MK Stalin is seen sitting in a cushion chair, holding the mike and talking to a group of people sitting before him in a hall.
Believing that his ‘Kolathur model’ will help him reach out to social groups to ensure his party candidate N Maruthu Ganesh’s win in the RK Nagar by-election, he has been interacting with representatives of fishing community, traders, self-help groups and local influential persons over the days.
“I sat with the local residents in Kolathur at different levels to hear them. Certain officials would come, while some others skip. I heard their grievances and took measures to address them,” Stalin explained to the audience the intention behind his interaction.
Patiently listening to their grievances, he points out the achievements made in providing basic facilities to the common people while he held the throne in Chennai Corporation. The initiatives made by the previous DMK governments were also highlighted during the interactions.
The issues he touches upon range from lack of basic amenities to the mystery shrouding the death of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
Sounding sentimental, at times he tries to assuage the feelings of the voters in RK Nagar, who have been bearing the brunt of official apathy.
On Thursday, he interacted with a group of locally influential persons.
However, his strategy of having interactions with the representatives of different social groups when the polling date is fast approaching has not gone down well with a section of DMK leaders and cadre sweating it out under the scorching Sun.
They are sceptical of the outcome of the interaction. “This type of interaction will not yield the desired result at this juncture when the voters seem to be vulnerable to influences,” said a senior party leader camping in RK Nagar constituency.
He added that the ideal method is to wander about on the streets to reach out to the people in the open, in order to outwit the rivals. Meanwhile, Stalin has planned to go for a open jeep campaign in RK Nagar on Friday.The DMK, whose N Maruthu Ganesh is seeking the mandate, has to fight against both the factions of the AIADMK at the hustings.