It’s Kanimozhi all the way – through Ramanathapuram to Thoothukudi

Looks like Kanimozhi is rival-deprived. R Sivasamy Velumani of the AIADMK (Edappadi faction) and S D R Vijayaseelan of the Tamil Manila Congress (Moopanar faction) are opponents who fade in contrast to the one she had in her constituency last time.

“Back then, I had a great fight. With no less than the then state chief of BJP. She lost, went on to become Governor and after five years has quit in time for the polls. She is back in the fray, not here but elsewhere. She has run away from Thoothukudi. I won’t. This is my second home”

The reference is to Tamilisai Soundararajan who is contesting from the Chennai South seat.

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The wayside crowd at Vembar cheers as DMK’s biggest campaigner after party chief and Chief Minister M K Stalin scores a point against the BJP, almost missing in action here. Almost because, Vijayaseelan’s Tamil Manila Congress is technically an NDA ally. Kanimozhi is in no mood to settle for such reduced saffron presence.

Kanimozhi campaigning at at Mariyur. (Illustration: E P Unny) Kanimozhi campaigning at at Mariyur. (Illustration: E P Unny)

She is all out to fight the big national party. She quotes ‘elder brother’ Stalin who has spelt out the sole aim of these polls: Send the BJP home. And the ‘home’, it is clear, is up north. “Last ten years it has been a rerun of the old British Raj. Anyone who protests goes to jail. Delhi decides what we Tamils must eat, read, pray and think. Remember that this is the second freedom struggle and then vote,” she urges the late evening crowd as she winds up the day’s campaign half an hour before the 10 pm deadline.

In the early evening at Mariyur village in the neighbouring Ramanathapuram constituency, one got free lessons on the first freedom movement from a couple of speakers from the Left camp in the INDIA alliance. In sweltering heat, through the endless wait for the roadshow to arrive, they were speaking at length on political history from M S Swaminathan Commission all the way back to Simon Commission.

The effort was to highlight the region’s secular heritage. Particularly relevant because the candidate, Navas Kani is from Indian Union Muslim League, a DMK ally. A major name from the recent past repeatedly cited was A P J Abdul Kalam who was from these parts. Born in Rameswaram, he went to Schwartz Higher Secondary School in Ramanathapuram.

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Ramanathapuram does have a history well worth recalling but could have been done in more bearable weather. People clustered under what little shade they found and stayed patiently disengaged through prose and poetry. (Illustration: E P Unny) Ramanathapuram does have a history well worth recalling but could have been done in more bearable weather. People clustered under what little shade they found and stayed patiently disengaged through prose and poetry. (Illustration: E P Unny)

“Such a distinguished career would be unthinkable without secular values,” says speaker after speaker.

Ramanathapuram does have a history well worth recalling but could have been done in more bearable weather. People clustered under what little shade they found and stayed patiently disengaged through prose and poetry. Slotted between speeches were party songs, some attacking the old Jayalalithaa regime. When the roadshow finally arrived, it was a big relief from this anachronistic disc jockeying.

Later, on the highway from Ramanathapuram to Thoothukudi, overheard an exchange between two drivers stuck in traffic that was blocked by the roadshow:

“So who wins?”

“If you go by the party’s confidence to keep audiences waiting including those on Ramzan fast, and disrupt highway traffic, …”