Chennai
Clad in a bright blue-white striped shirt and plain dark blue trouser, an uncharacteristic political avatar he had donned ever since kicking off the tour from land’s end, Stalin called on his father party president M Karunanidhi immediately after ending his consultations with traders in T Nagar.
Like in the last few months, his PR team flooded Whatsapp groups with images of his father hugging him, less than 30 minutes after he left Gopalapuram.
A visibly jubilant Stalin subsequently interacted with select group of city journalists. From defending their aggression against PWF (people’s welfare front) of late to donning a new role for the campaign and predicting the chances in the ensuing Assembly poll, the DMK treasurer justified a host of debatable issues during the interaction which began with a 30-minute video summary of his brainstorming Namakku Naame tour.
Whether it is walking in slush filled paddy fields or riding bicycle and motorcycles or trying his hands at pottery, weaving and sculpting, and even martial arts, which he found very difficult to try, for curious lensmen, he had unleashed a lot from his armoury to appease anxious onlookers of N amakku N aame that not only made the party more likeable than what it was in 2011 but also projected him as an accessible leader.
Admitting that the 1,100km tour was initially ridiculed and later appreciated, Stalin went on to describe the tour as a grand success that made even Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa react.
When asked specifically as to why he was only speaking for his father in the tour, a prudent Stalin seized the opportunity to reiterate that Karunanidhi was their leader and they would only propagate his ideas.
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