Under a tree, a group of politically active residents from Ho Chi Min Nagar, near Sivananda Colony, are busy taking selfies.
A little away, a group of youngsters in their twenties are busy cheering the gathering with their drum beats.
They are waiting for Congress working president and Coimbatore South constituency candidate Mayura S. Jayakumar, who has scheduled his campaign in the area and other parts of Ward 50 of the Coimbatore Corporation.
As his vehicle nears the point, the drum beat picks up pace. After greeting local leaders of parties in the Secular Progressive Alliance, Mr. Jayakumar walks the narrow lanes of the residential locality, which is mostly populated by people from the lower income group.
After walking a few lanes, the Congress candidate lands in front of a temple where he uses the public address system to reach out to voters. The residents have been demanding title deeds (patta) for long time.
“How is that the AIADMK that has been in power for 10 years has not taken steps to give patta, but will give those after the ensuing election? Therefore, what the BJP candidate, Vanathi Srinivasan, has promised a few days ago during her campaign in this area was nothing, but a lie,” he tells the listeners.
Mr. Jayakumar says he has always been associated with the area and reminds the residents how during the COVID-19 lockdown, he distributed free rice and vegetables. “You’ll also recall how I’ve been running a tuition centre in the area for students to have good education.”
Moving around a few more lanes, Mr. Jayakumar says the two other major contestants in the arena are not from the area – one is a film star and another is a political actor.
Both are from Chennai. Whereas, he is from Coimbatore South and is only a phone call away.
Moving to a few more residential localities, Mr. Jayakumar repeats most of the charges against his opponents. In Gandhi Nagar, he shares his phone number to the residents saying that he is only a phone call away.
