Up-close and personal: Leaders’ campaign approach differ

An otherwise shy DMK president M K Stalin has become accessible like never thanks to his tour planners, who have redesigned his whole campaign style. Instead of going on marathon road shows, Stalin has mostly opted for rallies, which are held once a day. A welcome addition to his campaign is the morning walks. The DMK president has made it a habit to visit crowded places, mostly Uzhavar Sandhai (vegetable markets), wherever he stays overnight after a day’s hectic campaign. Not stopping with mere visits, Stalin is also seen shaking hands and posing for selfies with as many voters as he can during the market visits. That an elderly woman had managed to pinch the cheeks of a ‘happy-looking’ Stalin seated outside a tea shop in Hosur shanty speaks for the paradigm shift in his campaigning style, which used to be limited to tiresome road shows till the last election. Significantly, Stalin has sent his son Udhayanidhi on a road show, a telling sign that the actor is perhaps being trained for the future.

A palpable change was seen even in rival AIADMK camp. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam seem to prefer the time-tested road shows, a first in their political career since the rise to helm of the party following J Jayalalithaa’s death. Palaniswami was also quick to capitalise on technology, using a sophisticated microphone to avoid the pain of shouting in to a hand-held microphone.

Actor-politician Kamal Haasan, whose MNM will contest its maiden elections, was seen canvassing support for his candidates perched on top of a modified campaign vehicle since Thursday last. Unsurprisingly, a few independent candidates like South Chennai’s Jayaram have caught public attention by using a two-wheeler fitted with loudspeaker.