Leaders finish poll mission in favourite segments

The nearly month-long heated campaign for the single-phase elections to 38 Lok Sabha seats in the state and 18 vacant Assembly seats came to an end on Tuesday with the political party leaders trading hatred and derogatory statements against others.

Tension also broke out in South Chennai with the ruling AIADMK alleging that the AMMK was bribing the voters. Police also had a tough time in Karur, after a clash broke out between AIADMK and the DMK functionaries.

AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran braved the scorching sun for more than eight hours charging the Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami as Edupudi Palaniswami (a side kick of PM Narendra Modi). The CM has mortgaged the state rights to the Centre. This is not Amma’s government, this is Modi’s mortgaged government, Dhinakaran said. He also slammed the DMK and the Congress alliance and alleged that the UPA betrayed the rights of Tamil Nadu on issues like NEET, Katchatheevu fishing rights and TN’s riparian rights over Cauvery river.

On the last day, several candidates and MPs also skipped their meals to continue their campaign. Personal attacks and hate speech also triggered tension among micro level campaigners. With the campaign coming to an end by 6 pm, the day-long traffic congestion eased by around 8 pm leaving the roads deserted after 9 pm.

The Parliament elections in the state are the first ever after the demise of Dravidian stalwarts J Jayalalithaa of AIADMK and M Karunanidhi of the DMK and saw Dhinakaran attracting ‘organised’ crowd in North Chennai, where vacant Perambur Assembly segment is located.

Allegations of cash for votes also poured in during the run-up to the polls with party functionaries thronging the office of chief electoral officer Satyabrata Sahoo to lodge complaints. Sahoo assured action after receiving the complaints and forwarded the same seeking a report from district collectors, who are the district election authorities.

Till Tuesday evening, political parties resorted to advertisements in television and social media.

Meanwhile, On Tuesday, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami felt at home and set out by walk around 10.45 am to Chinnakadai Street seeking votes among public and traders for Salem Lok Sabha constituency candidate KRS Saravanan.

The Chief Minister barely missed any commercial establishment, be it either grocery shop, fancy store or vegetable and fruit shops to seek votes by distributing pamphlets. Even while canvassing, the Chief Minister struck friendly conversations with the traders.

Over the last 25 days, the Chief Minister was touring non-stop addressing the public through rallies and meetings for the crucial Lok Sabha polls, his door-to-door reaching out was a refreshing change in his campaign style on the last day.

The Chief Minister even stopped by a tea shop and distributed notices. He then requested the tea master Murugan, a native of Kitchipalayam in Salem district, for a cup of coffee. Relishing it among campaigning Palaniswami praised his brew and gave Rs 200 as a reward.

Concluding his campaign at Tiruvarur, which was last represented by his late father and DMK chief M Karunanidhi, DMK president MK Stalin urged the electorate to bring regime change at the Centre and state through polling. The DMK leader who stayed overnight at Kumbakonam, on Tuesday morning commenced his campaign from Valangaiman in Thanjavur-Tiruvarur border. He campaigned there and later at Kodavasal, Kottur for M Selvarasu, the Nagapattinam Lok Sabha CPI candidate. Stalin also campaigned for both M Selvarasu and Tiruvarur bypoll DMK candidate Poondi Kalaivanan at Koradacherry and Lakshmangudi.

Pointing out the DMK and its allies have 97 seats in the Assembly and if the DMK combine win all the 22 seats, the tally in the Assembly for the DMK and allies would go up to 119, which is above the 117 mark for the majority. “Moreover the case for disqualification of 11 AIADMK MLAs, including O Panneerselvam is pending at the Supreme court,” he said.