Comments
“I understand your suffering. But I am powerless now, give me the power, vote for the DMK,” urged the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s president, M Karunanidhi, launching his campaign for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections from Saidapet in the heart of the city.
The 93-year-old veteran, who is making a bid to lead the DMK to power for the sixth time, launched a scathing attack on the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam accusing it of inefficiency, and its leader and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa of being autocratic.
He spent most of the 45-minute speech on the disastrous flood in Chennai last December and criticising the AIADMK government of inefficient handling of the situation. The government did not even investigate the reasons behind the floods following the release of water from the Chembarambakkam reservoir which resulted in loss of life and property, he said.
Karunanidhi, who is starting out on a three-week campaign trail by road and rail, also picked on Jayalalithaa for not staying in close touch with the people. “The Chief Minister goes out only in a helicopter in royal style,” he said.
In contrast, he pointed out, MK Stalin, the DMK Treasurer, has toured the entire State and there is “nowhere that he has not set foot”, he said.
He urged the party cadres to work together to bring back the DMK to power. “It is time for a change,” he urged, “Do not disappoint me,” he concluded.
Karunanidhi will be filing his nomination papers on Monday from his native Tiruvarur where he is contesting to retain his seat.
Ma Subramanian of the DMK, gave the audience an insight into the rationale behind picking the Alandur Road intersection as a venue for starting the campaign.
While regulating the crowds ahead of meeting, he said the DMK had won major victories – once in the Assembly elections in 1996 when it bagged more than 200 seats and again in 2004 Parliament elections – both times the DMK leader had launched his campaign from there.
There is bound to be a repeat performance in the May 16 elections, he said to loud applause from the gathering.
Comments
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.