With the focus on the the Nadar community vote bank, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who attended the late Chief Minister Kamaraj’s birth anniversary function organised by Nadar Mahajana Sangam (NMS) here on Sunday, projected himself to be a ‘friend’ of the community.
Speaking at the function, he said that there were around 10% of Nadar community people in the region from which he hailed.
“Of that, 80 % of them are supporters of AIADMK,” he said.
Stating that A. Mathes, a person hailing from Nadar community, was his friend and supporter, Mr. Palaniswami said that he made Mr. Mathes the Chairman of Edappadi panchayat union when he became an MLA for the first time.
He said that the Nadar community was an entrepreneurial community that had spread across the country.
“Wherever you go, you can find someone from the community,” he said, adding that the government would do its best for the development of the community.
The organisers of the function said that Mr. Palaniswami was the first Chief Minister to attend the ‘Kalvi Tiruvizha’ being organised by NMS to mark the birth anniversary of Kamaraj for the past few years.
The Chief Minister, who attended the Kshatriya Vidyasala Higher Secondary School, however, did not visit the Kamaraj memorial house or garland the statute at the Kamaraj mani mandapam.
Incidentally, there is a widely-held superstition in the district that the political fortunes of any leader who visit the memorial house would nosedive.