Tamil Nadu Election 2021 Live News: Ready to give life for AIADMK win, says EPS

Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday said he is ready to give his life for the victory of the AIADMK in the assembly election. Speaking at a campaign in Sivaganga which drew large crowds, he said his throat had become sore due to continuous speeches but it was time to ensure the victory for AIADMK by all means. “Victory can be gained through hard work. This chief ministership was something you gave me, but Stalin will continue to dream of becoming the chief minister. When the DMK cannot maintain law and order in the assembly, how will it give protection to the people. Hence, you should be ready to give your life and ensure the AIADMK’s victory,” he said.

BJP national president J P Nadda on Friday campaigned for BJP candidate Poondi S Venkatesan contesting from Thiruvaiyaru assembly segment in Thanjavur district. Addressing the public, he said the AIADMK is a regional party with a nationalist mind and that he is happy to be in alliance with such a party. Later, Nadda campaigned for his party candidate in Chennai’s Harbour constituency.

DMK president M K Stalin on Friday accused chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam of being involved in a power struggle in the party and the government, ignoring the people in the process. Quoting a recent TV interview of Panneerselvam, Stalin said BJP tried its best to convince Sasikala to join hands with EPS and OPS. “OPS told a TV channel that he is ready to accept Sasikala, but EPS is not. It exposes the factional feud in the party and a rule that is not concerned about the people,” said Stalin. Recalling the fight between OPS and EPS over capturing the reins of AIADMK after the demise of J Jayalalithaa and the imprisonment of V K Sasikala, Stalin said both leaders were focussed on protecting the party and government and not bothered about the people. “They shared power and party, but Panneerselvam craved for the post of CM and EPS wanted to be party coordinator too. This has been continuing,” he said.

“Vote for me and I’ll send you to the moon.” At time when political parties in Tamil Nadu vie with one another in promising freebies to voters ahead of the April 6 assembly election, an independent candidate Madurai South constituency has taken the game to a whole new level by promising to send every voter to the moon. He has also promised give every household in his constituency a helicopter, an iPhone, a robot, three-storey houses with swimming pool and to transfer Rs 1 crore to the account of every voter. All these promises have come from R Sarvanan, whose affidavit states that he has Rs 10,000 in hand and has a liability of Rs 4 lakh.

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday released the BJP manifesto for Puducherry for the ensuing assembly election. The manifesto did not have any mention of the two top demands by political parties from Pondy — statehood for the Union territory and waiving off Puducherry’s loans. The BJP, however, has promised to grant special Union territory status for Puducherry with an increase in the central funding from 25% to 40%, like Jammu Kashmir. Union ministers Giriraj Singh and Arjun Ram Meghwal were among the senior BJP leaders present.

More than a decade after his demise, LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran remains an icon of Tamil pride and a number of political parties are using his images and cut-outs to enthuse young voters. His posters are a common sight at election rallies of Vaiko’s MDMK, Thol Thirumavalavan’s VCK, Seeman’s Naam Tamizhar Katchi (NTK), Ramadoss’s PMK and T Velmurugan’s TVK. “Prabhakaran represents the Tamil aspiration. He is still relevant in the political framework in the state as he appeals to the youth. Apart from this, the political parties are also showing their solidarity for the Eelam Tamil issues by using Prabhakaran’s posters,” Ramu Manivannan of the department of political science, University of Madras.

In the mukkulathor (thevar) heartland, the AIADMK is in quicksand. One of its senior-most leaders, R Vaithilingam, a Rajya Sabha member and the party deputy coordinator, is finding the going tough in Orathanadu in Thanjavur district, despite being a threetime MLA – 2001, 2006 and 2011 — of the constituency. Vaithilingam’s party has alienated his own thevar community. Orathanadu is witnessing an intense three-cornered contest with sitting DMK MLA M Ramachandran and AMMK’s M Sekar giving a tough fight to Vaithilingam. Sekar is a popular figure, who attends almost every function in the constituency. Vaithilingam is hoping that the sops such as crop loan waiver announced by the AIADMK government would help him sail through.

A total of 80 history-sheeters were nabbed in North zone on Friday morning ahead of the April 6 Tamil Nadu assembly election.A raid was conducted as a precautionary measure to prevent any untoward incident ahead of the election.

He is campaigning for the party's candidate from Anna Nagar assembly constituency, V Ponraj who tested positive for Covid-19.

The year 2020 was work from home (WFH), while 2021 will be the year of Vote from Home (VFH) for a few thousand citizens in Chennai. The 50 lakh-odd voters in 16 assembly constituencies in the core city will vote on April 6, but around 7,300 will poll their votes from Friday itself. Greater Chennai Corporation, which is also the Chennai district election office, will deploy 70 teams consisting of its ground-level staff, a police constable and micro observers who will set up a polling booth at residences of these voters and give them around 30 minutes to mark a tick or cross on the candidate of their choice.

The election campaign of AMMK candidate in Mannargudi constituency S Kamaraj gave way for some emotional moments when his son took over the charge of the campaign after Kamaraj fell sick. K Jayendran, an MBBS student, has been campaigning in his father’s vehicle in the constituency for the past few days, emotionally appealing to the people to vote for his father. Kamaraj, 54, AMMK Tiruvarur district secretary, was hospitalized and underwent an angioplasty on March 20.