A bitter battle fought on the streets of Vellore Lok Sabha constituency has come to an end with the political parties winding up the election campaign, on Saturday. The electioneering saw political leaders, particularly Dravidian majors, firing from all cylinders to attack each other, and sometimes stooping to new low in political polemics. Two prominent figures —Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and DMK president MK Stalin — stole the show with their campaigns, darting arrows tinged with personal attack at times.
Palaniswami characterised the DMK’s historic win in April general elections as a victory by luring the innocent people with ‘mittai’ (sweet candy), inviting a sharp retort from Stalin who questioned whether the AIADMK won Theni seat by giving ‘halwa’. Calling himself a farmer who rose to the throne step by step, the Chief Minister said Stalin could not bear him occupying the citadel of power because he was a farmer. Taking on him, the DMK leader said one could not become a farmer by merely uttering the word. He even went to the extent of reciting a few lines of a song from late leader MGR’s film ‘Vivasayi’.
The Opposition leader questioned the Chief Minister’s ‘keenness’ to implement Salem-Chennai eight-lane expressway that would deprive hundreds of farmers of their land despite claiming that he was a farmer. Stalin also said it was only for pecuniary benefits. This evoked a sharp reaction from the Chief Minister who said it was DMK that had mastered the art or corruption.
The electoral scene was dominated by local issues than national issues. The ruling party deliberately left out their ally BJP from the electoral scene in Vellore considering the minority vote bank. Top party leaders did not utter the term Modi unlike in the April polls. State BJP leaders avoided appearing on the stages in the constituency.