The parties are now gearing up to start their canvassing again, with by-polls in four Assembly segments –Â Thirupparankundram, Sulur, Aravakurichi and Ottapidaram – slated to be held 19 May.
Author: M Bhaskar Sai
The long weekend that accompanies the election is not just for the citizens to chill out, but also for the political leaders of Tamilnadu. In fact, they very much need a break, after hectic alliance deals, gruelling campaign under the hot sun and, finally, casting their vote and monitoring the polling process Thursday.
Moving away from traditional political public relations mechanism, many young candidates had opted for corporate PR agencies for the Lok Sabha elections in Tamilnadu.
With social media emerging a big tool to reach out to the masses instantly, putting it to maximum use are new age politicians from Tamilnadu. Though they are actively involved in physical campaigning by canvassing for votes door-to-door, they are equally busy on social media, to attract the youth.
Raju Pullan was talking to News Today in New Delhi, on the sidelines of the launch of the company’s new offering- Smart TVs under ‘Unbox Magic’ series.
Currency notes bundled inside gunny bags found by Income-Tax officials in a godown linked to a former minister, cash gold and other valuables being seized by flying squads of the Election Commission on a daily basis, ‘fuel coupons’ (which can be exchanged for petrol or diesel at oil outlets) given to party workers spotted by poll officers.
Fielding Devar and Nadar contestants in south Tamilnadu, Gounders in the west, Vanniyars, Dalits and Naidus in the north is being followed as a strategy by major players and the upcoming Lok Sabha elections is no exception.
The AIADMK and DMK are targeting smaller parties, caste organisations and local associations with an eye on their votes and campaigning capacity, and are ready to meet their ‘demands’ in return.
For the first time, the State is witnessing a sort of mini-Assembly election, as 18 constituencies are facing by-poll along with the parliamentary elections mainly due to the disqualification of AIADMK MLAs who sided with T T V Dhinakaran.