Slams DMK, AIADMK for ruining state, he will ‘save Tamils’
DMDK chief Vijayakanth greeting the crowd during election campaign in Madurai (Photo: DC)
Madurai: Myriad hues of fireworks light up the sky. The crowd goes shrilly raucous. Young men with wide grins and eyes in fiery red jostle for space to get closer to the campaign vehicle carrying their captain. He then arrives to the deafening sound of crackers and beating of drums. His dark glasses under the glistening spotlight after dusk makes him look weird. As the speaker attached to his van becomes live, the mob goes mad. He clears his throat and starts speaking in his guttural voice in rustic Tamil.
Thus began the election speech of the actor turned politician and DMDK leader Vijayakanth during campaign for his party candidate D. Sivamuthukumar in Madurai on Wednesday.
As he starts entertaining the crowd with slangs and antics, nadaswaram music emanating from a nearby Mariamman temple irritates him. “Yei, who’s that?” he yells. The audience replies the music is played as part of the temple festival. The actor blames the police for allowing it.
Now and then, he, with his raised hand and folded tongue, reprimands a listener in the crowd for making noise and being ‘high’. “Don't dare to try these tricks with me,” he retorts and the audience bursts in to peals of laughter. The captain then comes to the subject. He touches upon unemployment claiming, “Three lakh youth in the district are jobless.” Immediately, he turns nostalgic and talks about his student days as a hosteller only to miss the point. “Makkalae, makkalae, yedho solla vandhaen, marandhu pochu (People, I wanted to say something but I forgot). Paravayilla, adutha visayathukku varuvom (It is okay, let me come to the next subject).”
In broken sentences, he criticises both the DMK and AIADMK for ruining the state and says he is the messiah to eradicate corruption and save Tamils from distress. He peppers his colloquial speech with questions. And, never forgets to seek votes in the name of Narendra Modi, the prime ministerial candidate of BJP, an alliance partner. His speech lacks exhaustive details of various issues, which the DMK and AIADMK leaders resort to in their campaigns. He would say, “You won’t get Mullaiperiyar because amma (Jayalalithaa) and ayya (Karunanidhi) are not like MGR who sorted the problem with Kerala. They are highly egoistic.”
Then, he tries to trace the route from a neighbouring district to the campaign place. The gathering points out his mistake. Seeking to know the name of the AIADMK candidate, he mentions his name wrong. The crowd again has to correct him. Vijayakanth’s gaffes are enjoyed. And, the captain does not mind being viewed as an ‘entertainer’. Either would he have a script writer or a campaign manager as in other major political parties for quality campaigning.
He would allow his nominee to show up only at fag end. Then, the bandwagon moves on, as he gestures beating a drum (his party symbol). A hit number Pottu vacha thanga kudam, Oorukku nee manimahudam from his flick Ponmana Chelvan blares out from his vehicle and dissolves in air.
( Source : dc )
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