CHENNAI: Sriperumbudur and parts of Kancheepuram witnessed the coming together of AIADMK, PMK, DMDK, BJP and TMC cadre on Thursday with Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami canvassing for votes in the region.
The Chief Minister kicked off his campaign at Sriperumbudur, from where PMK’s Dr A Vaithilingam will be contesting the general elections. Addressing the crowd through the sunroof using his now characteristic ‘pilot mic’, Palaniswami trained his guns at the opposition after introducing the mega alliance’s candidate.
“DMK functionaries are going to shops eating biriyani and are hitting the owner when asked to pay. If this is their behaviour when they are the opposition, imagine what they will do if they come to power?” the CM asked the crowd as he began carving out a ‘thug image’ for the DMK.
“They won’t come to power again. That is ‘for sure’ because people are watching their behaviour. That is why DMK president M K Stalin is blabbering out of fear,” Palaniswami said confidently, as he coaxed the crowds into bellowing laughter. Palaniswami also pointed out the freebies the AIADMK government had given and claimed that the DMK is repeatedly trying to stop all measures the government is bringing for the poor. “The DMK first tried to stop the `1,000 Pongal gift and then tried stopping the `2,000 for BPL families,” he said.
“Sriperumbudur used to be a DMK stronghold but now it is moving towards the AIADMK. The PMK also has a presence so this time there is a chance for the AIADMK-PMK alliance,” said P S Kannan, a PMK functionary, conceding that T R Baalu is a formidable opponent, and the cadre of all parties in the alliance must work together to defeat him.
However, the mood of cadre in Kancheepuram, where AIADMK incumbent Maragatham Kumaravel will defend her seat was more ecstatic. “Maragatham amma has a good name here. The people are happy with her so she won’t have any trouble winning again,” said L Veni, who had come from Manimangalam to see the Chief Minister’s campaign.
While most cadre claim to still miss ‘Amma’ J Jayalalithaa, who they had pledged their allegiance too, they are slowly warming up to CM Palaniswami’s ‘no-bullshit’, ‘straight-shooting’ canvassing style, in which he doesn’t hold back in hitting out at the opposition till his point is well emphasised.
“The CM has grown in confidence and people can easily relate to him,”said Veni, claiming the party will stay strong as long as it continues doing good for people like Jayalalithaa did. A major part of the cadre continue to travel to each campaign spot in goods’ trucks despite the High Court prohibiting this. While there are no banners and posters after repeated directions from the court, the flags which were recently prohibited, were quickly removed once the leaders passed by.
‘Lies being spread’
Continuing to train guns on Stalin, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday charged him of peddling lies and said Stalin deserved a Nobel prize, if it was provided for misinformation campaigns.
Addressing a series of election meetings at Vandavasi, Cheyyar, Arni, Polur Kalasapakkam and Tiruvannamalai, seeking votes for party candidates Gingee S Ezhumalai (Arni) and Agri SS Krishnanmoorthy (Tiruvannamalai), he asked the public to be cautious of the lies being allegedly spread by the DMK leader.
“Stalin is always peddling lies. There is not an iota of truth in his speeches. If there was a Nobel prize being awarded for peddling lies, Stalin deserves it,” he said.