Amidst the blazing heat, women line up the streets offering ‘mor’ (buttermilk), water, local snacks while supporters wait for a glimpse of their ‘mother’ AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa at an election rally in Tirunelveli, southern Tamil Nadu.
Rediff.com’s Saisuresh Sivaswamy reports from ground zero.
With just a few days to go before Tamil Nadu goes to the polls, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalithaa upped her campaign, covering all 22 constituencies in Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari and Thoothukudi the southern tip of the state, on a single day.
On Thursday, at a huge rally in Tirunelveli where an estimate of over 50,000 supporters had gathered, Amma in a speech lasting almost an hour said that if she was re-elected, she would take action so that the state’s medical students wouldn’t have to take the Supreme Court-mandated National Eligibility cum Entrance Test. “If need be, I will enact a legislation to ensure this,” she said.
On Monday, the Supreme Court “clarified” that the NEET would be the only way for students to get admission to undergraduate medical and dental courses across the country. This order by the SC is a blow to students in Tamil Nadu where entrance exams are banned by a law passed in 2007.
Highlighting the differences between the ‘self-seeking’ Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government of M Karunanidhi and her own ‘selfless’ administration, Jayalalithaa also spoke of her plan to introduce prohibition on alcohol in the state. “We will start by cutting down the number of stores selling alcohol, shutting down bars attached to such shops, providing medical help to those affected by alcohol dependence, all leading to full prohibition.”
The rally at Tirunelveli comes following Amma’s 15 guerilla-style meetings across Chennai on Wednesday.
Hours before the arrival of Amma, the ground filled up with people. There were buntings, floats, balloons, giant TV screens, old M G Ramachandran songs being played, a huge phalanx of khaki-clad men and women.
And the crowds kept surging despite the blazing heat, which has claimed a few deaths in the previous election rallies. After all, for them Amma is god, for whom they will willingly lay down their lives.
In addition to the decorations, every seat at the rally contained a plastic bag bearing a cloth cap bearing Amma’s image, three pouches of water, a Britannia Marie biscuit packet, and a packet of Glucon D (no, not Amma brand, not yet at least). There was also a rubber arm band in the AIADMK colours.
