Candidate gets ‘aarti’ welcome (and money)
A group of women were seen waiting with ‘aarti ’ to welcome Tenkasi NTK candidate Esai Mathivanan in Chenkulam village. Realising he does not have cash to give them, Mathivanan hesitatingly got down from the vehicle. However, what happened next left him emotional. Instead of taking cash, every woman who performed ‘aarti’ gave Mathivanan an amount. “I received around Rs 1,700 from them,” he said. Mathivanan is among the ‘poorer’ candidates, with assets worth Rs 3.88 lakh and debt of Rs 1.12 lakh.
Vaiko shuts down heckler
When MDMK chief Vaiko was campaigning in Sankarankovil for DMK candidate Rani Srikumar, a man kept interrupting the former’s speech by shouting. When Vaiko asked the man why he was interrupting, he said he wanted to have a word in private with the MDMK chief. “I do not wish to speak to you as I know you are drunk,” Vaiko replied, evoking laughter from the crowd.
Contributed by Thinakaran Rajamani; compiled by Srijith R)