Selvi's step-sister Kanimozhi also campaigned for her father. The difference is that this Rajya Sabha MP prefers addressing meetings and taking on AIADMK’s Jayalalitha in her speeches. "It was a long-cherished dream for my father to contest from here and I am sure it was your dream to elect him. So it will be a win-win situation for both," she says. About Jayalalitha, she criticizes the AIADMK’s manifesto saying it has been "copied". In fact she says even the CPM in Kerala was inspired by the DMK’s manifesto.
But Kanimozhi, despite being an MP and her father’s daughter is not a star campaigner for the party, because she is hobbled by the swirling allegations about her link to Kalaignar TV which allegedly got 2G scam slush funds. She is also not articulate and no platform speaker and was always considered the literary heir of Karunanidhi. The fact that she was seen as being close to Raja has also put her under a cloud and on the defensive. "The inquiry is on. Let the law take its own course," she says evasively.
The women in Karunanidhi’s family are standing in for their fathers/husband this election. Like Durga Stalin whose entry into a house at Kolathur (from where her husband and deputy CM Stalin is standing) caused quite a stir. With her traditional good lucks and her smiling visage, she has won over many hearts. "We were happy to see Thalapathi’s (commander, which is Stalin’s sobriquet) wife. It was as if Mahalakshmi visited us," gushed some women after her visit. She has campaigned for Stalin for a long time and had in fact come to Kolathur when Stalin was the Mayor of Chennai back in 1996. "I am surprised at the overwhelming response of the voters. They have assured me that they will elect my husband with a huge majority," she says.
Yet another campaigner – apart from union minister Dayanidhi Maran who is a grand nephew of the CM – is Kayalvizhi Venkatesh, the daughter of Azhagiri. She is a complete politician attacking Jayalalitha and Vijayakanth and defending her father, whose pet hate at the moment is the Election Commission which has restrained his and his associates’ movements making the doling out of money to voters extremely difficult. As the campaign secretary of the DMK women’s wing she has been campaigning for her candidates in Madurai district and targeting Jayalalitha’s penchant for escaping to the "cool climes of Kodanadu rather than serving the people of the state."
Clash of the Titans
Stalin, who had thought Kolathur would be a walk-over (the DMK got a big lead in this area during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls) is in some trouble because basic amenities have eluded the people and also the AIADMK has fielded Saidai Duraisamy, who is no pushover.
Kolathur is a new constituency so whoever is elected will be its first MLA. Stalin, although he claims that he shifted because he wanted to give Thousand Lights (from which he has been contesting since 1984) to the youthful Jinnah, clearly moved to escape the 2G effect which the DMK reckons is acute in urban areas. Vijayakanth of the DMDK, who campaigned for Duraiswamy recently said, "Though fondly known as ‘Saidai’ Duraiswamy (he got this nickname for contesting from Saidapet), he should be called 'Kolathur' Duraiswamy from now on."
Duraiswamy’s popularity is linked to the Manidha Naeyam IAS Academy, which he started in 2006. He has helped 85 students get into the civil services and 680 into the state government by coaching them to pass the state service commission. Currently it has 3,000 candidates on its rolls in its two Chennai and 12 other branches all over the state.
With such a formidable rival, Stalin is seeking all the help he can get, including calling on Superstar Rajnikanth, hoping he would signal to his fans to stand by the DMK.