Apart from DMK chief M. Karunanidhi and party general secretary K. Anbazhagan, a few more senior leaders of various parties campaigning in Tamil Nadu defy age.
N. Sankaraiah, 95, a front-ranking leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), is campaigning in constituencies in Chennai.
Mr. Sankaraiah joined the Communist movement in 1940 and played a key role in organising the working class movement in a big way. He spent more than eight years in prison for participating in various struggles. Budding communists consider him a role model.
Mr. Sankaraiah was one among the many communists who were released just a day before Independence, and he vigorously campaigned for communist candidates in the first general elections in 1952.
Mr. Sankaraiah’s first two attempts in the poll fray proved futile in the Madurai East constituency in 1957 and 1962. However, he was elected to the Assembly from Madurai West in 1967 and from Madurai East in 1977 and 1980.
Another nonagenarianR. Nallakannu, 91, joined the Communist movement when he was barely 14. A leader who enjoys an excellent reputation among the masses, Mr. Nallakannu could not campaign in the first elections held in 1952 as he was imprisoned. From the next general elections, he was a regular in the campaign field.
Mr. Nallakannu’s both attempts in the poll fray proved futile. He was the CPI candidate in the Ambasamudram constituency in Tirunelveli district in the 1977 Assembly elections, where he was defeated by Easwaramoorthy, alias Sornam, of the CPI(M) by a margin of 1,789 votes.
His second attempt was in the labour force-dominated Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency in 1999. This time too, he could not taste success and was defeated by C.P. Radhakrishnan of BJP.
K. Veeramani, 83, of the Dravidar Kazhagam is yet another senior leader who is reaching out to the voters, canvassing for the DMK-Congress alliance.
