Stalin keeps a low profile

By Ramya Kannan

CHENNAI, OCT. 21. The battlelines were clearly drawn. Right here, in Chennai. It was phase two of the attack, at the counting centres, this time. The armies of the ruling and Opposition parties were prepared for the best, even the worst. Or, were they?

While the AIADMK mayoral candidate, Mr. N. Balaganga, was seen at different counting centres, surrounded by his party members, there was no sign of his rival, incumbent Mayor Mr. M.K. Stalin.

Mr. Balaganga visited almost all the counting centres, informing `higher authorities' over cell phone about the latest trends.

Surprisingly though, Mr. M.K. Stalin, who was not doing too badly during the beginning of the counting, kept a low profile. As if taking a cue from him, members of the DMK were also conspicuous by their lack of numbers and `aggressiveness'. The largest groups of party supporters `hanging around' the counting centres also belonged to the AIADMK.

But irrespective of political affiliations, all the party members who turned up at the centres gave the presiding officers a tough time, by intruding into the counting area. They anxiously hovered around the counting tables despite the presiding officers' constant reminders to clear the area.

The officers also reported that counting was delayed as the party members raised objections frequently. In the Central Polytechnic counting centre, an AIADMK supporter, raised the issue of invalidating votes that did not bear the signature and the seal of the presiding officer. Counting was stalled for a while due to that.

In Chennai Corporation, which was supposed to be the hub to disseminate information to presspersons, there was a literal information blackout till 3 p.m. And when the first result was announced, it provided an opportunity for mirth, couched as it was in irony: the winner in ward 136 was an AIADMK candidate and he had won from Kalaignar Karunanidhi Nagar.

It was also quite curious that the Corporation officials, who were privy to trends from other corporations and municipalities, were unable to gain access to results at local level.

There was also a lull in counting during lunch time. Used as they were to the regular paper packets, those on official counting duty did get a pleasant surprise as they were served prepacked lunch in neat plastic containers, complete with spoon. ``At least these do not mess up the place, like all those papers strewn around. Disposal of these containers is easier,'' they were heard commenting.

While mobile phones, pagers and helmets were a strict no-no at some centres, in others, the police were quite willing to let people in with all these gadgets.

There was one stray incident reported at the Pachaiyappa's counting centre, where the Chennai Corporation Commissioner, Mr. J.T.Acharyulu, asked presspersons holding valid passes to come out of the counting room and gather details from outside.

Meanwhile, it was a different war altogether in the fourteen-inch zone, the television screen, as different channels gave completely contradictory information about the `lead positions'. Some of the channels gave results that were favourable to candidates of the parties to which they were sympathetic.

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Section  : Southern States
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