CHENNAI: The quibble over the non-implementation of the scheme to give monthly assistance of Rs 1000 for women as promised in the DMK’s election manifesto of 2021, which echoed in hustings for the Erode East by-election with opposition leaders raising it repeatedly as a ruse, formed a part of Chief Minister M K Stalin’s campaign on Saturday when he said the date for introducing the measure would be known during the Budget presentation in the second week of March.
On a whirlwind tour of the constituency on the last day of campaigning, Stalin made brief stopovers to address the crowds that had gathered at various places when he spoke on a wide range of issues concerning Erode in particular and the State in general and reminded them the Congress candidate, E V K S Elangovan, for whom he was seeking votes, was a descendant of the family of Periyar E V Ramasamy.
Also reminding the voters that Elangovan was facing the by-election now because his son E Thirumagan Everaa passed away suddenly, Stalin’s repeated plea to the electorate was to ensure that the AIADMK candidate lost in deposit in the elections.
Speaking at a point near Agraharam, he said that the DMK had always been in favour of minorities and explained how the 3 per cent exclusive reservation within the quota for Scheduled Castes for the Arunthathiyar community had helped many students get admission to professional colleges.
It was M Karunanidhi who proposed the law providing for the exclusive reservation and was keen on piloting it in the Assembly when doctors refused to let him go from the hospital where he was admitted, he said adding that Karunanidhi then urged him to do the work effectively.
He pointed out the role of AIADMK in the passing of the Citizens Amendment Bill in Parliament and reminded the voters that the DMK had opposed the Bill then. So if the Citizens Amendment Act came into force, creating a sense of insecurity among the minorities, the AIADMK should be blamed for it, he said.
In the other speeches delivered at Gandhi Statue junction and Sampath Nagar, too, he explained the schemes launched by his government. He challenged the AIADMK to explain what they did for Erode during their 10-year tenure before the DMK came to power and said that his government first allocated Rs 300 crore and then Rs 400 crore.
The projects envisaged under the first instalment of Rs 300 crore were nearing completion and those under the second demarche would start soon after the completion of the by-election process. He said it was history in the making that the son of M Karunanidhi had come to canvass votes for the son of E V K Sampath, celebrated for his oratory as ‘Solin Selven’ by DMK founder C N Annadurai.
At Agraharam he recalled the days when the then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was hospitalized and pointed to the false information that the AIADMK leaders, including Edappadi K Palaniswami, were disseminating about her health and taking the people for a ride.
He even referred to the mysterious incidents that happened in Kodanad Estates, owned by Jayalalithaa, and that it would be unravelled and all those who were involved in the hanky panky activities would be put in jail.
Palaniswami, who had earlier announced that he would be winding up his campaign on Friday, too, went around the constituency seeking votes for his party candidate K S Thennarasu on the last day till 5 pm. He continued to blast the DMK for reneging on its promises, letting down the government employees and stressed the point that Thennarasu was a local person who had won two elections in the past and would stay with them, unlike Elangovan who would leave after the polls.
Naam Tamilar Katchi chief coordinator Seeman, too, campaigned on the last day though the Election Commission officials had earlier exhorted him to not continue with the electioneering after a clash between his party workers and DMK campaigners. Seeman, it is learnt, had threatened to go to court if he was prevented from campaigning.
Once the hectic campaigning that had created a carnival atmosphere in the constituency ever since workers from outside and leaders landed there ended in the evening, an eerie lull pervaded the places as the outsiders were asked to leave and the cacophony was silenced.
Election officials immediately swung their action preparing the ground for the polling beginning in the morning hours of Monday in all the 238 polling booths and security forces stationed there became active, intensifying the vigil and removing outsiders from the scene.
