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Tamil Nadu
By R. Rajaram
After a day's break, the AIADMK general secretary and Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, hit the road on her fourth-day of campaign, appealing to the electorate to favour her party candidate, L. Neelamegavarnam. Not to be left behind, the Congress stepped up its campaign, with the AICC secretary, G.K. Vasan, and the TNCC working president, E.V.K.S. Elangovan, launching a joint exercise for a while, appealing for support to their candidate, A. Mahendran. Ms. Jayalalithaa came up with more promises to the people, while the Congress leaders continued their tirade against the "anti-people policies" of the AIADMK Government. For the villagers, who witnessed the whole spectacle and a whizzing convoy of vehicles, it was obvious that the two parties were leaving no stone unturned to woo them. So much appeared to be at stake in this election for both of them. Kicking off their joint campaign at Peikulam, Mr. Vasan and Mr. Elangovan appealed to the voters to make the byelection a watershed in the State's politics, by ensuring a Congress victory. Coming down heavily on the AIADMK regime, Mr. Elangovan urged the people to teach the Government and ruling party a lesson. He said that despite the Chief Minister's claim that Andipatti had been transformed into `Arasipatti' (Queen's land), it was still facing a whole lot of problems. Mr. Vasan said the State had not benefited in any way from the AIADMK rule. Changing her script in the campaign, the Chief Minister promised all assistance for starting a women's college and a polytechnic in Sattankulam, once the election was over. She offered a sports complex with all facilities. The Government would also examine the feasibility of setting up a cement plant in the area, as it had a significant deposit of limestones. Ms. Jayalalithaa assured the people that steps would be taken to expedite work on the Udangudi-Sattankulam combined water supply scheme. Sources in the AIADMK said their leader had yesterday reviewed the campaign and fine-tuned the strategy for the last lap, over the next three days. Feedback from all corners of the constituency was taken into consideration "to ensure a resounding victory" for the party, which is contesting here for the first time. Though not so coordinated, Congress election managers also took stock of the situation and tried to reach out to allies and supporting parties, to raise the level of the campaign on the home stretch. Party sources spoke of an "all-round shortage of resources", compared to the ruling party. The thinking now was on how to overcome this handicap and utilise the cadres of `friendly parties'. There is also a build-up for the DMK's one-time show here, slated for tomorrow. The youth wing leader and heir apparent, M.K. Stalin, along with some of his colleagues, is slated to address a public meeting, though the ostensible objective is to "explain to the people what happened in the recent Assembly session". Party functionaries here say the DMK would focus on the need to "defeat the ruling party and save both the people and democracy". Both DMK cadres and Congress functionaries are waiting to see whether a clear signal of support to the Congress would come from the DMK platform.
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