Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

`CM is fighting Chennai people'

By R.K. Radhakrishnan

CHENNAI June 21. The former Chennai Mayor, M.K. Stalin, finally took to the streets today, for sensitising people to the manner in which he was unseated and for thanking them for having reposed faith in him. ``This is not a war where (the Chief Minister) Jayalalithaa, is fighting an individual. She is fighting the people of the city. By unseating me she has insulted all of you,'' he said, beginning his campaign near the Ashok Pillar, Vysarpadi, in north Chennai, an area where his party, DMK, has substantial support.

Arriving just after 5.30 p.m. Mr. Stalin switched to an open jeep and appealed to partymen not to follow him in their cars and other vehicles, as the police had restricted his convoy to four vehicles. The police recorded on video the entire evening in an attempt to ensure that there was no violation of the conditions they had laid down.

At all his stops during the hour-and-a-half drive through the Perambur constituency, Mr. Stalin focussed on how the Chief Minister, ``driven by hatred for him, was using all instruments of the State, to bring harm to him and the DMK''. But her efforts would not succeed, he said.

Delving into the details of his exit, he explained that there was nothing wrong with the idea of one- man one-post. But when only a Stalin was affected, it meant that the rule was aimed at that individual.

For him, it did not matter whether he was Mayor, MLA or only a party worker. He would continue to work for the people and try to voice their aspirations on appropriate forums. No one could stop him from doing that.

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