“Tamizha Tamizha Naalai Nam Naalai
Tamizha Tamizha Naadum Nam Naadae!”
...A.R.Rahman’s brilliance blended with the emotionally touching lyrics would greet anyone who gives E.Sarath Babu, Independent Candidate, South Chennai a ring. On a fine Sunday morning, I was pleasantly surprised to hear his heart warming caller tune at a time when ‘political’ entertainment channels play ‘Nyabagam Varudhe, Nyabagam Varudhe ’,a song which has as much connection to the welfare of the State and Central as John Buchanan will have to the Knight Riders next year. Take away the ten questions, delete the Luck Factor, remove Anil Kapoor and chuck Danny Boyle, substitute them with hardship, pluck and a loving idly-selling mother, there you stand with, in Jamal’s shoes a level headed Sarath Babu, Director Foodking Catering Services. I was involved in a little chit-chat with him on phone, quite an interesting one at that. The BITS, Pilani and IIM-A graduate affirms during the conversation that education and hunger alleviation would be his motive when he makes it to the politically blotted landscape of the Indian Parliament. On a query regarding his inexperience in politics, Sarath counters that he’s got a fresh perspective free from “political baggage.” A couple of more stunning answers left me longing to campaign for this Samaritan.
Another candidate whom I had the privilege of interacting personally is an unassuming N.S.Venkatraman, Founder – “Nandini-Voice for the Deprived,” a NGO. Contesting with a ticket from the DSP, Mr.Venkatraman made a noteworthy statement in which he said “Progress shouldn’t be estimated by the growth of IT or a mission to the moon, instead it should be measured by the Happiness Index of the common man.” Point well made. In a country where 1% of the total population earns 96% of the money, how do the rest 99% survive?
A couple of other prominent candidates from my constituency are R.S.Bharathi from the DMK, who’s door to door campaign didn’t catch the attention of my father who continued to speak on his mobile when the bell rang, and a certain Mr.L.Ganesh - quite a busy bee as I ve hardly seen him even though he lives next street!
Note: S.Chennai has a record 44 candidates- the highest contesting from the state this time around. By the looks of it, next time around my constituency would boast of more candidates than electorates!
Zooming out from South Chennai to the whole of T.N, with 39 seats at stake, I ve been left pondering over two questions.
Q.1-Is this a fight for the Sri Lankan Parliament or the Indian Pariliament?
Q.2-More than a battle between M.Singh and L.K.Advani this is being made out as a neck to neck race between Mr.Karunanidhi and Miss.Jayalalitha.
There has been a significant change in the arithmetic, as T.N has witnessed a major political realignment since ’04.In the previous election, DMK-Congress along with PMK and MDMK had swept the polls with 39-0.The difference this time around is that the smaller Left parties and PMK and not surprisingly(MDMK-it’s a habit with them)have switched sides.
Coming back to Q.1, there has been striking difference of opinion within the camps, while PMK MDMK and CPI(M) have taken a stand for LTTE on the issue, AIADMK is opposed to it.
Similarly while Congress has shown a forceful line on the LTTE – the DMK iterates its sympathy towards the Tigers – though what made ‘him’ say “Prabhakaran is a good friend”-God Knows. NDTV had a ball with those five words!
The DMK, from a student’s perspective had proposed the establishment of an IIM at Trichy. Apart from that it was responsible for the long queues at the ration shops, some left disappointed because of the impurities and insects at the Rice-Re1/kg.Go around Chennai, those gigantic flyovers would capture your eye lens – Some just for the sake of it ! The National Rural Employment guarantee scheme and the scrapping of POTA are a couple of other achievements.
There are still some factors which have left me baffled.
1. How can a fast ever begin after breakfast and end a good while before lunch? The air conditioner and a well laid out bed with a few glycerin-used cine actors gave company.
2. Should a bandh be called at the drop of a hat? What’s the necessity? When normal life is affected aren’t the naxalites and terrorists winning?
3. How much can Jaya network influence a person? Day-1:They broadcast ads which show the plight of bus travelers.Day-2:I jump over the college wall, board an A/C bus from Sri Perumbdur to Chennai,to my amazement the bus rates are slashed.Day-3:Tempted by this,I do it again only to be left disappointed by the unstable mind of the Govt. who hiked the rates again and had to satisfy myself with a blockbuster of a movie screened during the journey – Sivaji.
4. The morphing of a political party into a family party. Posts are distributed among the family members as frequently as the TV sets (electricity?) and stoves (gas?).
A 908-crore worth desalination of water scheme, Rs 56,664 crores in four lane traffic system , Rs.1828 crores railway over bridges, Rs.1553 crores Salem steel rolling plant are highlights during the tenure. Transport – Inspite of all this its left a humorous Mr. Jeffrey Archer fuming at Landmark, about the traffic congestion – “Why do you draw the white crossing line in the middle of my car?” It’s been a sort of a treadmill walk, we seem to be moving but at the same place!
The AIADMK have been involved in as much as negative campaigning as the DMK. Manmohan Singh has escaped their attention, its target is KK. P.Ramdoss of PMK, an ally of the AIADMK had asked this question “Why doesn’t DMK quit the Congress when they hardly support the Tamilians?” – For the same reasons A.Ramdoss, his product , Health Minister didn’t quit.
Jr.Ramdoss made some remarkable progress in the Health Ministry when he banned smoking in public. Vaiko, MDMK, another switched over ally couldn’t escape the laughter in the drawing room or the ire and clever words of Devil’s advocate Karan Thapar in an interview a year back.
I can’t completely comment on the AIADMK as I had’nt completed my High School when they were in power. However, as of now they seem to be physically campaigning with the Left, their chemistry lies with the BJP and who knows – if arithmetic favors them Congress might go for a grab!
The DMDK leader might have an edge over J.K.Rithish (DMK) in terms of Who’s Who of Tamil Cinema-Tamil Politics but I doubt if they could affect the political arithmetic much. They would end up with the anti-DMK and anti AIADMK votes on the 13th.
Come Wednesday, the 13th,the numbers clearly favor the AIADMK but my first ever vote in the Indian Democracy would go for someone who is free from the political grasp, some one who is affliated to the people and not the party, some one whose mobile rings –
“Unnakul Indiya Rattham Unda,Illaya?”
My Std.10 CBSE pass certificate proved to be quite useful,stigmatizing the Electoral Officer present at the South Chennai voting constituency into letting me enter even when I didn't possess the voter ID-card.I had harbored hopes that my name would feature in the voting list,thankfully after a lot of running around,the officer's forefinger found -
