Tamil Nadu minister KT Rajendra Balaji hires boat to reach out to Ottapidaram fishers

OTTAPIDARAM: The Tamil Nadu Dairy development minister K T Rajendra Balaji, popular for his controversial one-liners like “Modi is our daddy”, came up with another novelty to attract the attention of the electorate at Ottapidaram where an Assembly by-poll is due on May 19.

Rajendra Balaji hired a mechanized boat to campaign for the AIADMK party candidate, P Mohan, in the sea at Tharuvaikulam fishing hamlet that falls under Ottapidaram constituency on Thursday.

Steering the mechanized boat himself for a while, Rajendra Balaji did his campaign in the sea, where country-craft fishermen from Tharuvaikulam village in the constituency were fishing. This novel campaign of the state minister too attracted the villagers in the fishing hamlet, which has been a traditional AIADMK bastion since MGR launched the party in 1972.

Speaking to media on board the boat, Rajendra Balaji said that the AIADMK was having the full backing of people from all walks of life, Stalin will not be able to topple the government, even if he joined with T T V Dhinakaran, the minister said.

However, the minister hiring a boat to put out to sea when the 61-day annual fishing ban along the East coast is in vogue, could invite trouble for him as it is seen here as a violation of the ‘Deep Sea Fishing Regulation Act, 2001’.