VILLUPURAM: Murali Sankar, the PMK candidate from Villupuram Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu assured people that no people from the Vanniyar caste will harm the Dalits in the locality.
Murali, in a conversation with TNIE, expressed his gratitude to the party, his promises to his people, all the while showcasing his honesty in accepting his shortcomings, with an assurance to rectifying the mistakes.
“I will be entering the Draupadi Amman temple on Wednesday to demonstrate how kind and democratic the people from Vanniyar community are, as against the false propaganda of several political parties. As long as I am a member of the party, I assure no Vanniyar will harm a Dalit; they will be seen as another Murali,” says Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) candidate Murali Sankar.
Thirty-four-year-old Sankar is one of the youngest candidates to compete in the upcoming elections. Sankar hails from Dharmapuri district and has been PMK's State Student Secretary for the last six and half years, reinforcing his familiarity among the cadres across the state.
He is also a football player and coach, owning a private turf in Chennai. Earlier, he has contested in the 2021 and 2016 assembly elections from Vanthavasi and Harur constituencies respectively.
“I am honoured to have gotten a ticket to compete in Villupuram as it is the home of my ideals Dr Aiya (PMK Chief Dr S Ramadoss) and Dr Annan (PMK Youth Wing Secretary Dr S Anbumani) and that they will be casting their votes for me this election,” he said.
Sankar is contesting the elections from a ticket reserved for the SC/ST.
However, the PMK leader believes to have a strong bond with the pro-Vanniyar party in the locality.
If elected, Sankar said he would like to bring in new industrial corridors in Villupuram, and Tindivanam areas to improve employment opportunities.
"The technology park is set in Vanur, which is 60 kilometres away from the town, defeating its primary purpose,” he said.
Further, to cut down on the commuting time, the PMK leader assures to increase the number of coaches in the existing trains especially in the Puducherrt-Villupuram-Chennai route.
The PMK which will be contetsing the Lok Sabha elections with the BJP- led NDA has different views over the reservation system.
While the PMK has vouched for a 10.5% internal reservation under the MBC category for the Vanniay community for education and employment, the BJP has opposed the idea.
However, with the two parties forming an alliance in the state, the PMK leader said, “If Narendra Modi can solve the 500-year old Ayodhya problem, he can sort this reservation issue out as well with our party leader."
The promises and perspectives aside, Sankar, however, seems to be unaware of the reduction and cancellation of post and pre-matric scholarships to students from Scheduled and minority communities respectively.
“I am not aware of the issue, but will certainly voice out for the causes of Dalits and minorities in both my constituency and the nation.”