DMK prez’s work comes as relief to Cong in Nanguneri

In fact, the very first advise Stalin, who wound up his first stage of campaign there on Thursday, had given to his Congress friends was not waste their time in tailing him during the campaign.

DMK insiders said that Stalin had instructed the Congress leaders to continue their work and merely send the candidate with him during the two-day campaign. Such was his interest in Nanguneri that the DMK chief had engaged one of his trusted lieutenants, I Periasamy, deputy general secretary, to oversee financial management for the Congress candidate.

The DMK chief did not mind even firing salvos at former AIADMK general secretaries J Jayalalithaa and even MGR to negate the opposition’s campaign that Congress candidate Manoharan (native of Kanniyakumari) was an outsider imported to Nanguneri.

Stalin had repeatedly referred to the AIADMK stalwarts contesting elections outside their home turfs in his campaign speeches. Congress sources unwilling to be named revealed that Stalin was so keen on Manoharan’s campaign management that he had insisted on the candidate rushing back to Nanguneri in time for meeting the morning joggers. When Manoharan had informed Stalin about his visit to Ayyathoppu to worship ‘Vaikundar,’ the DMK president obliged and instructed him to return in time so that they do not miss out on meeting morning walkers.

Stalin who has been restricting his active campaigning to evenings this time, has already doubled his time for Nanguneri to four days.