Chennai: All the three main opposition parties - DMK, MDMK and PMK - have chosen Kancheepuram district for holding major public rallies in the next couple of weeks, thereby confirming that the recent rain-floods misery will dominate their election campaign.
This region and the neighbouring Chennai, Tiruvellore and Villupuram suffered heavy loss of lives and properties in the December deluge. Obviously, the opposition parties are hoping to whip up public anger against the ruling AIADMK by blaming the government for the misery, and ‘infect’ the rest of the state as well during the run-up to the polls.
Former chief minister and DMK president M. Karunanidhi is expected to lead the anti-Jaya tirade at the party rally at Appur near Oragadam on February 21. The Sunday show is planned as a grand finale of the ambitious statewide ‘Namakku Naamey’ road show of his son and party treasurer M.K. Stalin.
The father-son duo has been constantly targeting the government on the rain-floods with Mr Karunanidhi himself leading the party delegation to petition Governor K. Rosaiah demanding a judicial commission to probe the charge that the release of water from the flooded Chembarambakkam lake caused the huge damage and destruction.
In his Facebook post on Tuesday, Mr Stalin said a recent Union government report had ‘corroborated’ his party’s stand that the Chennai floods were not natural disaster but a man-made disaster.
The report based on the visit of an expert team has said that the heavy rain was not the sole reason for the floods, he said, adding, “the Union government has openly said the ADMK government had not taken preventive measures even after they were warned 48 hours prior to the advent of the heavy rainfall…the report has brought to lies the continuous lies of TN government”.
“We demand a judicial enquiry on this man-made disaster so that people can get answers”, Mr Stalin has said in his FB post. This demand for judicial probe of the ‘man-made’ disaster will most likely be the fulcrum of DMK’s poll campaign. It is almost certain that the same would be the case with the DMDK and the PMK as they too have chosen to launch their warheads from the floods-soaked Kancheepuram.
The PMK has announced its state conference on February 14 at Vandalur, close to Mudichur that had suffered heavy losses in the rain-floods.
‘Captain’ Vijayakanth has chosen to sound his battle bugle at the DMDK rally at Vedal close to Kancheepuram on February 20. This region too is slowly limping back to normalcy after suffering the rain-floods.
