Death of Decency

The O Panneerselvam faction replaying the late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s funeral procession in RK Nagar on Monday, in an apparent effort to garner sympathy appears to have misfired as the move has drawn flak from a cross section of the public. 

Speaking to DTNext, T Muthuvel, a resident of New Washermanpet said, “It is unfortunate that the AIADMK faction led by O Panneerselvam is campaigning in such an ugly manner and it is not our political culture. It is clear that Jayalalithaa is continuously being insulted even after her death. I am at a loss to understand why all the parties rake up the demise of Jayalalithaa. All political parties should make election campaigns only on civic issues.” 

He added that the cancellation of RK Nagar by poll by Election Commission was imminent if such forms of campaign continued. “Political parties should maintain decorum during campaigns,” he said. 

N Kumar, an auto driver of Tondairpet, said the people in RK Nagar should teach a lesson to the political parties that make campaigns in such an unacceptable fashion. 

“This will be seen with revulsion,” he said. Similarly, M Dilli Babu, who runs a restaurant in Old Washermanpet termed the funeral campaign as ‘sickening’. “Where is our state headed and why is our political culture turning gradually ugly?” 

Commenting on the incident, Union Minister of State for Shipping and Road Transport Pon Radhakrishnan said, “It is shameful and an insult to a respected leader that a replica of the coffin in which she was buried was used to seek votes in RK Nagar constituency. 

This culture would end only when the Dravidian majors including the factions in AIADMK were shown the door and kept out of power,” he said.

They are trying to make the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s death an election issue. They are insulting a senior leader (read Jayalalithaa) as much as they can. It only shows the leadership crisis in the party. It proves that they have nothing meaningful to tell the people. However, we are campaigning from a platform of development and telling people as to what extent Jayalalithaa and O Panneerselvam pushed Tamil Nadu back in the last six years. 

It is very unfortunate and morbid. Half of them (people) might take it as replicating (Jayalalithaa’s funeral procession), another half might hate it. Such a morbid display can occur only to Tamil Nadu politicians. It exposes the immaturity and total hollowness of their campaign. It only means that people who did it have nothing meaningful, substantial or worthwhile to tell voters. The Election Commission might advise them to not repeat it. If you ask me if it is legal, well, everything cannot be described legally. 

Using the model of a coffin in which the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was buried shows the abysmal level to which politics in Tamil Nadu has sunk. Clearly, doubts about Jaya’s death are still in the minds of the people and could not be cleared by either of the two AIADMK factions despite both factions repeatedly claiming to do so. It is shameful that Jayalalithaa’s death was being bandied about for political gain.