AIADMK to lock horns with Congress in Krishnagiri
Under the DMK alliance, the Congress has fielded K. Gopinath, threetime Hosur MLA, while V. Jayaprakash will contest for the AIADMK; impact of BJP, despite inroads, remains peripheral
to have friendly connections with the Muslim community, which could help him secure their votes for the AIADMK party.
The NTK has fielded Vidya Rani, daughter of slain forest brigand Veerappan. A lawyer by profession, Ms. Vidya Rani has been vocal about her parentage and has claimed a certain unique “appeal to the emotive connect that her father purportedly had with the hill villages abutting the forests.” In the last elections, NTK had a negligible vote share of over 2.41% with 28,000 votes.
The BJP has fielded C. Narasimhan, a statelevel party functionary and onetime Member of Parliament. BJP is banking on the popularity of the PMK in various pockets of the assembly segments.
The PMK has a sizeable cadre base with a strong Vanniyar population in the district.
In 2014 elections, PMK leader G.K.Mani secured 2,24,963 votes summoning a vote share of 21.04%, when the party fought the Lok Sabha elections alone.
However, with a sizeable vote share, PMK’s votes may not entirely transfer to the BJP.
For one, the oftstated disenchantment of local PMK cadre with the party leadership for aligning with the BJP may cause disaffection.
The two chief contenders are likely to split the PMK votes.
NTK chief coordinator Seeman alleged that workers in the State were being paid wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to remain idle, and migrant workers from North India are utilising the opportunity here.
Campaigning for party candidate M. Karmegam here on Tuesday, he said 80 crore people in the country live in poverty while 28% of the population go to sleep without food. “But the country is paying for being idle,” he said, adding that it is only by working hard that productivity will increase, aiding the country’s development. He quoted that people in Switzerland refused to accept the government’s free offer of a monthly income of ₹6 lakh as they feared that foreigners would take over their jobs and later over the country. “They wanted to work and refused the offer,” he said.
He said migrant workers coming for jobs is not a problem, but warned against giving them ration cards and voting rights and cautioned that they would rule the State one day. He said politicians think only of the coming election whereas leaders think of the next generation and asked people not to sell their votes for money. “If you receive money for casting votes, your poverty problem will be solved for five days, but for five years, you will face brutality,” he said. The actorturnedpolitician claimed that ₹1.30 lakh crore worth drugs were imported through a private port in Gujarat and questioned its whereabouts. Mr. Seeman said though India is the largest beef exporter in the country, one who eats it is killed in the country. “If you say I should not eat beef, then ensure three meals per day,” he said, and added, “then you can decide what I should eat.”