The busy MC Road at Royapuram wore a festive look on Thursday evening as a sizeable crowd waited for DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin to begin his campaign for the day. As he emerged from his campaign van in a blue shirt rolled up to his sleeves, the DMK and alliance party cadre gave him a rousing welcome. At Suzhal Methai on MC Road, a hub for retail and wholesale clothes, Mr. Stalin termed AIADMK-government led by Jayalalithaa corrupt and non-functional as several schemes announced under Rule 110 of the Assembly remained only on paper. “She is not approachable also. She does not meet people or care for their welfare while in power,” he charged.
Engaging the crowd through an interactive approach, he detailed the list of achievements when he and M. Subramaniam were Chennai Mayors during 1996-2001 and 2006-11 respectively. “Whether we are in power or not, we will be with the people,” he said.
At various points during the campaign, he cheered the crowds by his impromptu singing and criticised the government. Taking a dig at the present Mayor Saidai Duraisamy and AIADMK councillors for remaining mute spectators during the Chennai floods, he said Chennai’s infrastructure has not improved much over the past five years. Mr. Stalin pegged his speech on the DMK’s manifesto. “The manifesto has 501 poll promises,” he said assuring that each and every one of them including increasing old age pension and five lakh houses for fishermen would be implemented. In R.K. Nagar, Perambur and Madhavaram, Mr. Stalin highlighted the schemes for fishermen, students and also farmers such as cold storage facility and solar pump sets. “We will expedite the drainage and water supply project that was announced in previous DMK regime and extend the Metro Rail to Tiruvottiyur,” he said.