The Hindu : National / Elections 2004 : Folk dancers, drummers and unscheduled stops

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 02, 2004

National

National - Elections 2004

Folk dancers, drummers and unscheduled stops

Jayalalithaa campaigning in Mansilai village. - Photo: Vino John.

Suresh Nambath

Madurai

Temple priests vie with former ministers for the attention of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, as she criss-crosses the southern districts of the State in her campaign vehicle. At temple towns all along the way, the priests wait patiently in the sun for hours together. They have their brief moment in the spotlight before Ms. Jayalalithaa gets down to the job at hand: addressing the voters.

For Ms. Jayalalithaa, the theme is the same everywhere. The "foreign origin" and "political inexperience" of Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, is contrasted with the "able leadership" of the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. She tells voters she wants to concentrate on national issues, and that the Opposition is making local issues the focus of the campaign to distract her.

Senior leaders of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, including former ministers who seem to have dropped off the radar screen, vie with each other to catch Ms. Jayalalithaa's eye. Having done so at one meeting, they race to the next venue, and wait for her to show up again.

Madurai was the starting point for Ms. Jayalalithaa's tour of the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, where the AIADMK boasts of substantial cadre strength. Her electioneering schedule includes meeting points where she addresses voters, and other stops where she merely pauses to acknowledge the cheers of bystanders. The campaigning also involves naming infants and accepting grievance petitions.

On April 21, the AIADMK leader took her roadshow to Ramanathapuram, after breaking camp in Madurai.

A police vehicle, accompanied by media vans and cars, starts half an hour before Ms. Jayalalithaa. Reporters travelling with her convoy are told to get back to the vehicles well before she completes her speech. This is not difficult, as Ms. Jayalalithaa does not depart from the prepared text. The shorter version of the speech, used at all venues except the final public meeting, is timed at less than 10 minutes.

At Muthanendhal, near Manamadurai, Ms. Jayalalithaa is received by T. Ramaiah, brother of the slain former DMK minister, Tha. Kiruttinan, allegedly killed by members of a rival DMK faction. There are banners put up by Tha. Ki. Peravai, which have a picture of Ms. Jayalalithaa alongside that of Kiruttinan, who lived and died as a member of the DMK. Going by the banners, Kiruttinan appears to have been made an honorary member of the AIADMK posthumously!

In a couple of places, which do not figure in her schedule, women try to stop the convoy to catch a glimpse of Ms. Jayalalithaa. With a policeman stationed every 100 metres, this is not really cause for concern. Indeed, party functionaries take them as an election-time barometer of the AIADMK leader's charisma.

Further down, in Paramakudi, Ms. Jayalalithaa has cause for cheer as a huge crowd has gathered to hear her. Before her arrival, songs from films starring MGR are played and replayed to not only evoke memories of the AIADMK founder, but also keep the crowd entertained. There is a slight hiccup as Ms. Jayalalithaa drives in. The music troupe refuses to stop the show. From a distance, senior leaders try to signal the troupe members to get them to end the show. But it is only after party workers climb on to the dais that the troupe members get the message.

The final stop is Ramanathapuram, where folk dancers and drummers welcome the AIADMK leader. There are no chairs on the dais, but there is a picture of Vajpayee in the company of Dravidian leaders such as Periyar, Annadurai and MGR. With only an hour left before the campaign closing time of 10 p.m., Ms. Jayalalithaa walks on to the stage and begins her speech. After saying she would not be forced to deviate from the main issues of the election, Ms. Jayalalithaa spends considerable time denying opposition allegations that her Government had dropped a desalination project meant for the district.

Her speech over, Ms. Jayalalithaa leaves for Madurai. The drive to Ramanathapuram has taken five hours, but with the campaign over for the day, the return journey takes less than half that time.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National