TENKASI: The State is in the last-leg of campaigning, and the candidates as well the cadres are out in the open, wooing as many votes as they can. But, Poongothai Aladi Aruna of DMK is in a fix owing to the allegations raised by none other than her mother.
Kamala Aladi Aruna, the widow of former DMK Minister, Aladi Aruna, and the mother of Poongothai, the DMK candidate from Alangulam Assembly constituency, urged the voters not to vote for her daughter “as she is most corrupt”.
In a video clip that went viral on social media on Saturday, Kamala is seen saying that she would pray to god to ensure the defeat of the incumbent MLA and former minister Poongothai. Comparing her husband and daughter, Kamala is seen saying, “Aladi Aruna helped the people of Alangulam constituency in different ways. He was the reason for the growth of rice mill industry in Alangulam. He never demanded bribe. However, Poongothai is not like her father. She is always greedy and accumulated assets including resorts and parcels land of land, disproportionate to her income. Poongothai will even sell Alangulam if she is elected MLA. She will not do anything for the people. I want the voters of Alangulam to chose some other good person as MLA of the constituency,” she said in the video clip.
Kamala further claimed that her daughter is not supportive of the family and had beaten her up once. “Poongothai did not support me to conduct her father’s murder case. She registered my school and my son Ezhilvanan’s Rs 1 crore worth land in her husband Balaji’s name. I had to undergo a four-hour surgery after she beat me up. My hand and leg were broken in that incident.
I fear that I will be beaten up once again,” she said. Sources said that there was an ongoing dispute among the family members regarding the family assets. “Kamala got upset after Poongothai sent her a notice regarding a land dispute to her brother Ezhilvanan last month,” they said. When contacted by Express, Poongothai did not pick up the call.
Regulations announced from 7 pm on Sunday
With the campaigning ending on April 4, the following regulations will be in place from 7 pm on Sunday, said a letter from Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo
No public meetings related to elections shall be organised or attended
No announcements through cinema, television, radio, WhatsApp, Facebook and other such digital platforms
No spreading propaganda through music or theatrical programmes
Violators will be fined, face imprisonment for two years or both
Functionaries/cadre from outside the constituency must leave by 7 pm
No outsiders to be housed in marriage halls, hostels and community centres
No candidate should use vehicles for transporting voters to and fro the polling stations
Temporary campaign offices of candidates/parties can be set up only 200m outside poll station with only two persons manning it