States »SoutPosted at: Apr 1 2021 12:44PM

Strange personalities, stranger postures and strangest promises

By V.Mariappan
Chennai, Apr 1 (UNI) Even as April six Tamil Nadu Assembly elections
a couple of days away, with the sound and fury of campaign reaching
the crescendo, there is no dearth of personalities, postures and promises.
The antics, gimmicks and punch lines characterizing the campaign trails
have all it takes to make one double up with laughter.
The hustings matching summer in scorching heat and consisting of all
ingredients of the electioneering conjured up in the Pickwickian Papers
throw up episodes that may tickle your fancy.
Here is a candidate who comes all way to the campaign venue by
helicopter (stalled by police) wearing gold layers weighing three kg,
and for whom hordes of women voters make a beeline, eyes widening
in wonder and disbelief at the glittering gold.
Dwarfing even the movers and shakers of the Tamil Nadu politics, he
grins mischievously, dark tresses of hair flowing gently down the nape.
He is HariNadar of the PanangattuPadai, an outfit purportedly set up
to promote the Nadar community, who pushed even actor-director
Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi to the fourth slot, winning 2.49 per
cent of votes in the 2019 Nanguneri Assembly bypoll.
HariNadar, contesting the current election from the Alangulam
constituency in Tirunelveli district, has been in the news, of
late, for one reason or another, though not so serious, keeps
the main candidates on edge.
Ms Poongothai Aladi Aruna, DMK sitting MLA seeking re-election
from Alangulam, and Manoj Pandian of ruling AIADMK and son of
former Speaker P H Pandian, probably do not sleep a wink at night
over the nightmarishly swelling crowds for HariNadar’s campaign
meetings which feel like quite strange.
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