Rival parties change wheels for last day
Parties use bikes to cover maximum ground before the deadline
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-09-17 03:05 GMT
Coimbatore: On the concluding day of the poll campaign, the AIADMK and BJP rallied on two-wheelers to cover the maximum extent of area. While AIADMK mayoral candidate P. Rajkumar went around the city on his campaign vehicle, a host of ministers, including finance minister O. Pannerselvam, minister for industries P. Thangamani, minister for transport Senthil Balaji, minister for municipal sdministration S.P. Velumani, minister for information and technology N. Subramanian and minister for health, Dr C. Vijaya Bhaskar, took part in the bike rally.
The rally that took off at Karumbukadai in the morning also saw campaign halts at Selvapuram, Annanagar, Machampalayam, Kuruchi, Sugunapuram and concluded at Ukkadam, an area populated by Muslims.
While the ministers and the candidate campaigned for votes, party cadres, including elderly women, danced at the campaign spots to songs that praised the governance of the ruling party in the state and summarised the good work initiated for the people of the city by CM J. Jayalalithaa.
The sons thanked the public of Coimbatore for the landslide victory in the recent Lok Sabha polls, and sought the same kind of support for the mayoral election as well. Party founder and president of All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi, Sarath Kumar, who campaigned for the AIADMK in Sundarapuram, said the Chief Minister has picked the ideal candidate for the mayoral contest and the 100 wards of the corporation will soon witness a never-before change if the candidate is voted to power.
BJP party cadres, mayoral candidate R. Nandakumar, and state general secretary Vanathi Srinivasan, went on a bike rally. About 500 bikes covered a wide area and touched the main areas of the city including Gandhipuram, Lakshmi Mills, Hope College, Singanallur, Ramanathapuram, Sungam, Coimbatore medical college and hospital area, Gandhi Park, Thadagam Road, N.S.R. Road, Poo Market , Nanjappa Road, Ganapathy bus stop, Thudiyalur and wound up at Kavundampalayam.
Final campaign day sees heated exchanges:
As the campaign for the mayoral by-poll came to an end on Tuesday, the political parties were involved in intensive campaigning since morning in Coimbatore.
The day also saw allegations of cash distribution and chaos during campaigns in some parts of the city. CPM mayoral candidate C. Padmanaban said the AIADMK workers disrupted their party's campaign in the Selvapuram area.
"During the final phase of our campaign, the AIADMK men created trouble and disturbed the campaign process at Housing Unit in Selvapuram. They created a ruckus preventing Member of Parliament T.K. Rangarajan from delivering a speech during the closing hours of the campaign. Despite our requests to take action against the AIADMK men, the police remained mute spectators," he said.
Mr Padmanaban said the police removed the AIADMK men only when the Communists attempted to stage a protest. In another development, BJP cadres said they found AIADMK men involved in door-to-door distribution of cash at Vellakinaru in the Thudiyalur area on Tuesday morning.
Tension prevailed for a while as the BJP men tried to seize money from the AIADMK workers. There was a heated exchange of words and the police arrived just as the situation was about to turn worse. The AIADMK cadres reportedly fled the scene.
BJP state general secretary Vanathi Srinivasan expressed disappointment over the Election Commission not initiating a probe into the party's complaints against the AIADMK party workers.
"The BJP nominees are threatened and there is free flow of cash to voters. Despite our complaints to the Election Commission and district administration, not even an enquiry has been conducted," she said to reporters after flagging off a bike rally at V.K.K. Menon road on Tuesday.