The ubiquitous presence of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s Cabinet members has turned electioneering into a one-sided campaign in the R.K. Nagar constituency.
CPI’s C. Mahendran, the only prominent face in the fray against Ms Jayalalithaa, has complained that the ruling partymen were denying him space for a smooth campaign.
“Wherever I go, a group of ruling partymen holding flags arrives. The situation may out of control and could end in minor clashes. I requested the police to keep the ruling partymen away from the locality where I am campaigning. But they are indifferent,” he alleged.
Mr. Mahendran has already covered a good part of the constituency, undertaking door-to-door campaign, while Ms Jayalalithaa is yet to launch her campaign.
While she may not have hit the campaign trail, her 50-member electioneering team is reaching out to every voter in the constituency. Every wing of the party is taking turns to reach out to the voters in each ward.
On Sunday, a team led by AIADMK presidium chairman E. Madhusudhanan campaigned at Kasimedu. The women’s wing members, including the party’s women Mayors, canvassed in ward 40. Several Ministers, Members of Parliament and MLAs campaigned in the fishing harbour area, Jeeva Nagar and Nehru Nagar.
According to party sources, the campaign team is targeting the caste associations as well. The ruling party leaders are accompanied by troupes dancing to drum beats, providing a festive mood. They are pooling in all resources at their disposal. Her allies are also chipping in.
Contrastingly, the CPI candidate has avoided even the use of cars and campaign vehicles. “I walk through the constituency with my party cadres and meet voters directly on the streets or at their home. It gives an idea about the people’s expectations,” Mr. Mahendran told The Hindu .
His campaign schedule begins at 9 am and ends by 1.30 pm. After a break, he resumes the campaign at 3 p.m. and meets people till 8 p.m. “I regularly bring curd rice for my lunch from home,” he said.
Mr. Mahendran, who is also the editor of the CPI’s literary magazine Thamarai, said his campaign had a mixed response. “I do not think that people want to vote en masse for Ms. Jayalalithaa. Though the main opposition parties have stayed away from the election, democratic forces and a section of voters favour a change,” he said.
Local issues
Even though the objective of the election is to send Ms. Jayalalithaa to the Assembly, local issues preoccupy the mind of voters, feels Mr. Mahendran. “Lack of drinking water and bad roads are the two major issues. In one place, a woman complained that what she was getting every day was drinking water mixed with sewage,” he said.
