It seemed as if a birthday party was in progress in Royapettah, just off the bustling Peters Road.

Confetti showered down on people using the road. They went their way with the bits stuck in their hair and clothes.

Not an hour ago, the same Madhi Hussain Khan Street was rather quiet with a few DMK supporters hanging around.

Things changed as the candidate for the Chennai Central constituency, Dayanidhi Maran, entered the street. The party began.

Another lane was decked up with an arch of black and red balloons, the colours of the DMK.

Curious residents

Drawn by the noise and the excitement, a number of residents stepped on to their balconies to see what was happening outside.

When they spotted the candidate in his vehicle, they waved out to him.

As the day wore on and the number of party supporters on the roads swelled and spread across a labyrinth of lanes and bylanes, many residents came out of their houses, children in tow, to greet the candidate.

It probably was mere curiosity. As the convoy moved on and left the lane in relative quiet, Saleema Nazir, a resident, sighed.

“We get water every alternate day and have to cross the road to pump and fetch the water in plastic pots; that is how we have been surviving. No matter who comes to power, nothing is going to change,” she said.