Tamil Nadu - Chennai

The reactions on the street

J. Malarvizhi

Some sad, some happy, some simply don't care

ARTICULATING HOPE: A. Sugantha (Corporation school teacher), C. S. Velu (a security personnel) and M. Suresh. — PHOTOS: K. Pichumani

CHENNAI : The Hindu sought to gauge the reaction of the common man on the streets of Chennai as the Assembly election results came out on Thursday.

Sugantha, a Corporation schoolteacher, expects higher accessibility and support for her students from the authorities in the coming years. She favoured the DMK only because the party is more amenable to providing support to underprivileged students.

B. Lakshmi of Vyasarpadi disagrees and is very dejected that `Amma' will not be returning to power.

Her reasons: a woman heads AIADMK and she has always voted for the party.

M. Suresh, owner of a bunk shop, was unable to vote this timethough he has been following the contest closely.The coming of the DMDK, headed by Vijayakant, has made a considerable dent in support bases, he claims."Tamil Nadu's politics will radically change after this election," he adds.

Maria Selvam, 52, who voted for the DMK, has serious charges against the outgoing regime.

The DMK, she hopes, will be more sympathetic to the needs of the minorities. It had become almost impossible to get a caste certificate under the AIADMK, she alleges.

Akhila, a first-time voter, has a different grouse. "Both my parents are State government employees and the outgoing government had denied them the D.A. they had asked for," she says.

Free TV sets

Kumaran, an auto driver, declines to say whom he voted for. He hopes, though, that the current `extreme level of policing' will reduce under the DMK. The promise of free television does not mean much to him.

The regime change will not make much of a difference, says C.S. Velu, a security guard at the LIC building. Free televisions do not enthuse him either. He did not vote because his shift timings did not permit him to.

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