DMK president M Karunanidhi on Saturday hit the campaign trail for the May 16 Assembly elections from Saidapet in Chennai by addressing a public rally attended by hundreds of party workers. In his 18-minute-long speech, the 92-year-old DMK chief exhorted the people to defeat the AIADMK Government and elect the DMK for a transparent and pro-poor Government.
Saidapet has been a lucky mascot for the Dravidian party as it was from here that Karunanidhi launched his campaigns for the 1996 and 2004 elections which resulted in landslide victories for his party.
The focus of Karunanidhi’s speech was the alleged indifference of the AIADMK Government to the victims of the December 2015 flood which devastated a major portion of Chennai. “Had this flood happened during the DMK regime, the Chief Minister and the Ministers would have been at your doorsteps offering help and relief. But the AIADMK Government was nowhere at sight during the flood. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa travels only by helicopter and does not know what is happening on the ground. Do we need an empress as Chief Minister,” asked Karunanidhi.
He went on praising his son MK Stalin, who has been touring all over Tamil Nadu as part of his election campaign. “The Government which we will form after the election would be for the poor and downtrodden. We will bring in big changes. You should vote for change,” said Karunanidhi.
The nonagenarian leader’s speech has lost its clarity and he has started slurring. Towards the end of his speech, Karunanidhi forgot the names of the constituents in the DMK-led front and asked the audience to vote for Communists. He introduced all the party candidates contesting from Chennai city and suburbs.
Earlier, Karunanidhi was given a spectacular sent off when he started the campaign trail from his Gopalapuram residence. Traditional Nadaswaram musicians performed the traditional katcheri while hundreds of women offered Aarathi to Karunanidhi to ward off all evil eyes. The DMK boss will address 17 public rallies at various places in Tamil Nadu. He will also deliver 18 speeches from his specially-designed and high-tech campaign vehicle in which he is touring the State. The 2016 election campaign could be Karunanidhi’s swan-song as age has caught up with him. The DMK leader would be 95 when the lok Sabha election is held next.
What stood out in the public meeting was the internal rivalry in the Karunanidhi clan. Kanimozhi, Karunanidhi’s daughter by Rajathi, was not allowed to be near her father while Dayanaidhi Maran, grand nephew, sat near the grand old man. Kanimozhi has been campaigning intensively in Tamil Nadu. Speaking to reporters at Gopalapuram on Saturday, where she had come to brief her father about the first round of campaigning, Kanimozhi said the people of Tamil Nadu wanted a change.
“There, of course, will be a change in this election. People want the DMK Government as the AIADMK Government has been a failure. DMK Government is the only alternative,” said Kanimozhi.