What’s in a name?
Eyebrows were raised in political circles when the Puthiya Tamizhagam announced V.K. Aiyyar as its candidate from Krishnarayapuram, a reserved constituency in Karur district. With little information available on his background, people wondered if he was actually a Dalit only going by his name, which they thought was a caste name. Mr. Aiyyar, an engineer and State general secretary of the party, has consequently been busy explaining the story behind his name. His father, a Communist, deliberately chose to name him Aiyyar, he says, to make a statement during a period when repression of Dalits was at its peak in the State. This set at rest speculation about his origins.
A throwback to the old days
For many, the DMDK chief’s image makeover from his copper-hued wind-swept hair to a well-gelledmopped up hair style that he sports these days, was a throwback to his Chinna Gounder days. Party loyalists, who had gathered to hear Mr. Vijayakant speak, were naturally excited as it seemed he deliberately sought to invoke an image that had increased his popularity by a good measure. It helps that in the film he plays a village patriarch dispensing justice with an iron hand.
In their students’ shoes
They have most likely turned down countless pleas from students seeking leave. But now it’s their turn. Many teachers allotted election duty have been approaching Election Commission officials, asking to be excused from the tedious job. They are citing a range of reasons, including son’s wedding, an important family function and travel abroad. However, Chief Electoral Officer Rajesh Lakhoni is unrelenting. “Please do not come with an application to exempt you from the election rule unnecessarily,” he keeps telling them over and over.
No sense of time
For the past few months, the media managers of the State BJP unit have been having a tough time placating journalists irritated by the party leaders’ utter disregard for punctuality. The joke is that the media can go to an event of the BJP an hour late and it will still not have started. Continuing this trend, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari turned up at the manifesto release event more than an hour late on Thursday.
(Reporting: C. Jaisankar, P.V. Srividya, Dennis S. Jesudasan and Sruthisagar Yamunan Illustrations: Sreejith R. Kumar)
