AIADMK-Amma candidate in the Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency T.T.V. Dhinakaran on Friday evening went around in an open vehicle in Nethaji Nagar, seeking votes.
Mr. Dhinakaran climbed on board an autorickshaw around 7.30 p.m.
As the attendees waited, a brass band and drum troupe engaged the supporters. Hats – white, beige and red; fedora, Panama and cricket umpire’s ‘hat’, the electoral symbol of the AIADMK-Amma were distributed.With the ‘two leaves’ symbol frozen, the AIADMK-Amma responded by extensively using images of former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran wearing a hat. The announcer at Friday’s event constantly referred to MGR’s film Vettaikaaran , where his character wears hats.
Mr. Dhinakaran’s tour began with a visit to the Murugan temple on the street; he emerged wearing a white cricket umpire’s hat. Women constantly approached Mr. Dhinakaran’s vehicle with arathi plates, applying vermillion to his forehead. From either side of the street, AIADMK supporters showered flowers. Friday’s procession was scheduled to travel to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd streets of Nethaji Nagar, which falls within the 38th ward of the Chennai Corporation. V.V. Rajan Chellappa, MLA of Madurai North, is in charge of the area. Mr. Chellappa has come with a large contingent of AIADMK workers from Madurai.
Friday’s crowds were made possible by a robust presence of the AIADMK-Amma faction in the areas Mr. Dhinakaran travelled to: the ward councillor and party’s organisational office bearers remain with AIADMK-Amma. However, one of the party secretaries of the wardwho lives on the 5th Street, has defected to the O. Panneerselvam faction.
On Friday, Mr. Dhinakaran did not make any new campaign promises; instead, he chose to make a claim based on Jayalalithaa’s legacy. “Amma promised to make this the best constituency and I will fulfil her wishes....We will win back the two leaves symbol and I will contest from here again in 2021. This constituency is like Andipatti, which supported both MGR and Amma,” he said.
In the other camp...
Senior leaders of the AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) headed by former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam (OPS) on Friday went on a door-to-door campaign to urge voters to vote against the “usurping of the AIADMK by a single family” and provide “justice for ‘Amma’s (Jayalalithaa) death” in the April 12 byelection.
In a bid to strike a chord with the people, who were familiar with the ‘two leaves’ symbol, they projected their ‘electric pole’ symbol as ‘ rettai vilakku ’ (twin lamps) and urged the people to vote for their candidate E. Madhusudhanan and defeat T.T.V. Dhinakaran.
AIADMK leader MaFoi K. Pandiarajan, who was campaigning in Ward 47, insisted that the fight between the two factions would not turn into an advantage for the DMK. “This constituency is the AIADMK’s bastion. I don’t see the voters voting either for Dhinakaran or the DMK,” contended Mr. Pandiarajan.
“ Rettai villaku works at many levels. It talks about light, it has its similarities with ‘two leaves’ symbol and it is also something that the urban voters identify with,” he said.
“The people are angry about two things: the way in which former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation was handled and the hijacking of the party by Sasikala’s family. Apart from these, several developmental issues have also been ignored in the last 6-9 months because of lack of governance,” he said.
