Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam treasurer M.K. Stalin’s visit as part of the State-wide ‘Namakku Name’ campaign led to a war of words and banners across Coimbatore. The DMK put up banners along the route Mr. Stalin took saying ‘Mudiyattum, Vidiyattum’ alluding to the end of AIADMK rule and the dawn of a fresh beginning. Countering that, AIADMK office-bearers and Coimbatore Corporation councillors put up banners with pictures of their party leader and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa saying, ‘Thodarattum, Olirattum’, meaning let the party rule continue and gloriously at that.
Video clippings and photos of Mr. Stalin’s visit to Coimbatore were circulated on social media. However, there were some controversies, too. First was an allegation that Mr. Stalin had assaulted an autorickshaw driver who attempted to click a selfie with him. Video clippings related to the event went viral. The DMK had a tough time explaining what happened. The controversy finally settled down after the driver concerned issued a statement explaining what happened.
There was some more excitement when photographs appeared showing Mr. Stalin eating at a canteen that clearly bore the ‘Amma Unavagam’ name board. The picture was shot in Mettupalayam. As it turned out it was a morphed photograph and the Amma Unavagam board had been superimposed on it! There was disappointment in some quarters when a photographer from Coimbatore who was present there said it was a hoax and that Stalin had not eaten at the Amma Unavagam canteen.
(Reporting by
M.K. Ananth and
Karthik Madhavan in Coimbatore)
