High-voltage campaign ends, animated silence sets in
Adding spice to the campaign was Seeman’s NTK, which has fielded candidates in all the constituencies.
MK Stalin in Chennai; Edappadi Palaniswami in Salem on the last day of campaign
CHENNAI: The high-voltage campaign for the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat in Puducherry, and for the bypoll for Vilavancode Assembly constituency came to an end at 6 pm on Wednesday. These seats will go for polling in the first phase of the election on April 19.
The campaign witnessed a spirited battle of words and wits between the leaders of the Dravidian majors and the national parties, all attacking each other in an effort to win the hearts and votes of the people.
What upped the temperature was the AIADMK’s exit from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which paved the way for a three-corner contest between the DMK-led INDIA bloc, the AIADMK front and the NDA. Adding spice to the campaign was Seeman’s NTK, which has fielded candidates in all the constituencies.
For all constituents of the INDIA bloc, DMK president and Chief Minister MK Stalin was the main campaigner, crisscrossing the State and Puducherry. For the AIADMK front, party general secretary and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami was the face of the campaign.
Even as the two leaders repeatedly stressed that the electoral battle was between the two Dravidian majors, it did not dissuade the Centre-ruling BJP from putting all its might into the campaign, with its mascot, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, visiting the State as many as eight times. The saffron party also deputed its senior leaders and cabinet ministers, though their ability to draw crowds was limited.
Annamalai in Coimbatore on the last day of campaign
Though he campaigned often, that was not the only time when Modi was at the centre of the campaign narrative. With or without him present in the State, the Prime Minister and the regime he has been heading for 10 years have been the main focus of the DMK’s campaign, while Palaniswami joined the attack in the later part after facing relentless attack from the State BJP unit and its president K Annamalai.
Incidentally, besides the current and former union ministers who are in the fray, the election this time also had a former chief minister, O Panneerselvam, and a former governor, Tamilisai Soundararajan, taking the field.
