TIRUCHY: Hundreds of DMK cadre, waiting for over four hours to welcome their leader M K Stalin at the Trichy-Karur border, were disappointed as he moved on without even waving his hand, leave alone addressing the crowd that had to return home with the sole satisfaction of watching dance performances.
Though the slew of professional performers, gyrating to film item songs on the roadside stage erected at Pettavaithalai on Sunday evening, enthralled the youth and some party functionaries, some women among the crowd complained about the dance moves to obscene songs.
“Since we have brought young girls with us, the dances were an embarrassment. They should have arranged for some cultural programmes with regard to the party’s ideology or else some pattimandram type of event. There are several speakers in the DMK. One of them should have been allowed to address the gathering,” a group of women from Perugamani village said.
Turning up at the spot at 9 pm, four hours late than expected, en route to Thiruvarur via Tiruchy after attending the party’s Makkal Grama Sabha in Karur, Stalin accepted shawls from the party functionaries sitting inside the campaign vehicle and drove on.
Neither Stalin addressed the gathering despite repeated requests from the people, nor did he even rise through the campaign vehicle podium to wave at the crowd, most of which did not even catch a glimpse of him.
The party cadre from surrounding villages, mostly women, had started gathering at the venue from 5 pm and went back after watching the dance troupe performing in scintillating dresses. Youngsters had a gala time, recording the performances on their mobile phones.
Ironically, only the previous day, Stalin, at a Makkal Grama Sabha in Coimbatore, made a sarcastic mention about ‘record dance’ at AIADMK’s events without an inkling that the very next day his party functionaries would organize a 4-hour record dance to welcome him.
Even as the show was on, announcements were made over the microphone of DMK’s Tiruchy district secretary Kaduvetti Thiyagarajan donating Rs 500 for a dance performance that impressed him. There were even requests for an encore from party functionaries.
“Had Kalaingar been here, he would not have missed the opportunity to address the people. He knew how to connect to the people. Despite the election is only three months away, Stalin chose to not to speak to the people who were waiting for four hours,” said an elderly party functionary while dispersing.
He further said “It is election time. If some speakers spoke on the stage, the people might have listened and get motivated to work for elections in their villages. What is the use of dance performance? After all the DMK grew through orations and writings by its leaders.”
When asked about it, DMK’s principal secretary K N Nehru, who waiting at a nearby shop for Stalin’s arrival, told The New Indian Express, “The local functionaries have arranged it without my knowledge. When I have come here, the performance was underway and I could not stop it now. I will ensure that it will not happen in future party events.”