Having finalised the seat-sharing arrangements with their allies, the two major Dravidian parties of the State — the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) — are all set to kick off their respective election campaign from Tiruchi.
For long, Tiruchi has been a favourite destination for almost all major political parties for conducting conferences and election rallies. Invariably, one party or the other chooses the city as the venue for a major conclave ahead of every election. Events held here are often projected to be potential “turning points” for political parties and the electoral success that followed some of them had helped nurture and sustain the sentiment. And leaders are flocking the city this elections too.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who had launched the party’s campaign from Tiruvarur for the past couple of elections, will hit the campaign trail this time with a public meeting at Siruganur on the outskirts of Tiruchi on March 22. Leaders of the allies, including MDMK general secretary Vaiko, are scheduled to join him.
With Siruganur being close on the border of Tiruchi and Perambalur districts, the Chief Minister will campaign in support of both K.N. Arun Nehru, party candidate for Perambalur, and Durai Vaiko, MDMK candidate for the Tiruchi Lok Sabha constituency. The next day, he will address a rally at Koradacherry near Tiruvarur, the home town of his father and former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.
AIADMK general secretary Edapaddi K. Palaniswami will come calling close on the heels of Mr. Stalin’s visit to launch the party’s election campaign with a public meeting at Navalurkuttapattu on the city outskirts on March 24. The alliance candidates are to be introduced at the meeting, which would be attended by DMDK general secretary Premalatha Vijayakant.
Tiruchi has a special place in the annals of the DMK as it was at the second State conference held here in 1956 that the party took the decision of entering the electoral politics. Subsequently, many of the party’s State conferences have been held in the city, with the party’s principal secretary and Municipal Administration Minister K.N. Nehru gaining a reputation of being an excellent organiser of such events on a massive scale.
The AIADMK too viewed Tiruchi as an important political nerve centre and has held many of its conferences and important campaign rallies in Tiruchi right from its inception. So much so that the party founder and former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran even toyed with the idea of making the city second capital of the State.
The Congress and the BJP have tread the path of the Dravidian parties and held important election rallies in Tiruchi over the past couple of decades with top national leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi addressing them.
Mr.Modi had visited the city in January this year to declare open the new terminal of the Tiruchi International Airport and participate in the convocation of the Bharathidasan University.
