RK Nagar’s BJP candidate Karu Nagarajan’s campaign is an attempt at colouring inside the lines even while projecting a no-holds-barred approach — all at the same time.
Evidence of this was on display on Tuesday evening when Mr. Nagarajan, accompanied by his party’s State unit president Tamilisai Soundararajan, campaigned in parts of wards 47 and 54 of the Chennai Corporation in an open vehicle. The candidate’s stump speech firmly sets the BJP against everyone else. “....this is an election between justice and injustice, against parties who have half in jail and half on bail,” said Mr. Nagarajan during one of many speeches delivered in the Thangavelu Pillai Thottam and Korukkupet localities.
Mr. Nagarajan, who last contested unsuccessfully from the Mylapore Assembly seat in 2016, even went so far as to acknowledge the presence of many AIADMK men — who have descended on the constituency from all over the State — among his audience, saying he was glad the others were listening. “Take money from others but vote according to your conscience,” he told voters.
His president went further. “A victory in RK Nagar will please the central leadership of the BJP more than a victory in Gujarat....If we are elected, the BJP will first address the drinking water problem here; we will install technology that converts sea water to potable water,” she said. She attacked the Chief Minister for his delayed visit to cyclone-affected Kanyakumari, reminding her audience that she had accompanied Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman the day after the cyclone struck.
With the BJP widely expected to struggle — Tuesday’s campaign failed to attract much more than curious residents looking on from balconies — the party can afford to throw political caution to the wind. The campaign that Mr. Nagarajan runs is more aggressive than the one by musician Gangai Amaran, who was the BJP’s candidate for the cancelled April by-election; there would be no selfies with adoring fans and singing on request this time around.
However, Mr. Nagarajan is careful not to break any rule. At the beginning of the trip, he instructs his entourage not to distribute pamphlets at doorsteps to avoid falling afoul of the Election Commission’s diktat about not campaigning door-to-door beyond the stipulated 9am-5pm limits.
When the BJP president arrived at 10 minutes to 7pm, she was drawn to a group of women standing by a doorway. As she approached them with folded palms, Mr. Nagarajan warned: “Madam, no door-to-door campaign after 5pm!” Mrs. Soundararajan caught herself, climbing aboard the vehicle with a smile.
