This band sends out election message with a musical touch

The band, through their original numbers, is highlighting long pending issues in the locality like poor healthcare facilities and lack of quality water. A group of 20 people is walking the streets of RK Nagar, singing out a few issues that are plaguing the constituency.  

At a glance, the band looks like any other group campaigning for a party. However, there is a difference - these are differently-abled, who are determined to voice their woes albeit, with a musical touch. 

Maatruthirunaligal Kalai Kuzhu, the band, has members with all kinds of disability mobilising support for CPM candidate Loganathan. Nagarajan, who is visually impaired, plays the keyboard, while Tamilselvi, a physically challenged and Sivagami, affected by dwarfism, are the vocalists. 

The troupe has been moving around in the area since Thursday, drawing attention on the urgent needs of this segment. Elumalai, a visually impaired and a member of the band, says that the songs are peppered with Communist ideas to win support for the candidate, and they are focusing on day-to-day issues. 

“Therefore, we focus on themes like drinking water and healthcare facilities in our songs. We wanted to go with original lyrics, as every other existing song on society and amenities has been done to death during political campaigns, time and again,” he says. He adds that the campaign was the differently abled community’s contribution towards an informed society. Elumalai adds, “Since music is an inherent part of any election campaign, we thought we should take up music as our medium.”