Chennai: With about 15 days left for polling in Tamil Nadu, arch rivals DMK and AIADMK are trading barbs of 'betrayal' against each other on crucial issues like power and water, further intensifying the already high decibel campaigning.
Star campaigners of both sides; AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa and DMK scion M K Stalin, list the promises that have been broken by either party, asking the electorate if their votes should help their rivals win and add to their current woes.
The undercurrent of Ms Jayalalithaa's addresses is indeed DMK bashing and the 65-year-old leader has been accusing the DMK of betraying Tamil Nadu on emotive issues including inter-state Cauvery river water sharing, the Mullaperiyar stand-off and the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.
Ms Jayalalithaa at every public rally reiterates that the DMK government failed to mount pressure on the Centre to notify them of the 2007 final award of the Cauvery Tribunal, pointing it out to be the 'biggest gratitude' by DMK to people who had voted for it, asking if there could be a bigger betrayal than this.
Ms Jayalalithaa rounds off her criticism by asking the voters if the DMK, for all its 'betrayals', including supporting the Congress-led UPA on key issues like FDI in retail and power generation, deserves MPs in Parliament.
DMK, albeit delayed in its poll campaigning, is equally up to the task, listing Ms Jayalalithaa's incomplete promises mainly in the area of electricity that has come to haunt the three year AIADMK rule after it came to power on the promise of addressing the acute shortage.
Taking a cue from Ms Jayalalithaa, Mr Stalin talks about the promises she made of making the state a power surplus in a few months after taking over as Chief Minister and dubs it as an "Agmark betrayal."
"AIADMK came to power promising to solve the power shortage within three months of assuming office. But, even after the government has completed three years, the situation has gone from bad to worse. Is it not a betrayal by AIADMK? Mr Stalin asked the gathering.
Other DMK leaders along with Mr Stalin, have been questioning Ms Jayalalithaa for going back on her party's earlier promise of implementing the Rs. 2000-odd crore Sethusamudram project.
The list given out by either party is long and with about a fortnight left for polling, there is no let-up in the exchange of such charges.
