At the Sangam hotel in the historic town of Tiruchirapalli, the lobby is crowded with journalists, AIADMK workers in white dhotis and shirts and securitymen in grey safari suits. All of them are anxious, none more than the journalists. Many of them have been promised interviews with the 'Puratchi Thalaivi' (revolutionary leader), but it now seems as if she is not going to oblige. A headline in a Tamil daily suggesting she had copied the freebies-laden DMK manifesto has upset her, cowering aides say. At exactly 5 pm, when the summer heat has lost its fervour, Jayalalithaa walks out of the lift, tailed by her constant companion Sasikala Natarajan. Grim and unsmiling, she heads straight in the direction of her custom-built campaign van.
The journalists realise that she is going to mete out collective punishment to the media by refusing to be interviewed. Her first campaign stop is at Jeeyapuram, a village that is part of the Srirangam constituency from where she is standing for election. Jayalalithaa, 63, doesn't step out of the van or even use the contraption that allows her chair to be lifted over the roof of her vehicle. The enthusiastic assembly gets a short glimpse of the former actress, an even shorter speech, and bright smile. Srirangam, she says, is the home of her ancestors, and Tamil Nadu is ruled by a "rowdy crowd" that must be ejected from power. After hours waiting, it is all over in 10 minutes. The assembly melts away, satisfied.
Beyond Srirangam and just off the spankingnew national highway linking Tiruchirapalli to Thanjavur lies the hamlet of Puthukudi. As in the rest of the delta, rice is the main crop here and poll freebies the main topic of discussion. The promise by the DMK and the AIADMK of free rice to the poor is particularly galling to the farmers who grow the crop. The Cauvery delta is part of the region known as Chola Nadu, the granary and cultural heartland of Tamil Nadu.
Farmers Unhappy with Govt
The Chola kings ruled here for hundreds of years, sustained and nurtured by the life-giving Cauvery. They were patrons of religion and the arts, and the prosperity generated by the land enabled them to under-take a frenzy of temple-building , each more magnificent than the other. But now, many farmers believe the government is doing all it can to break their backs.
S Ravi, who grows paddy on about five acres, regards it as an insult that he is paid only Rs 1,050 for a quintal of paddy which is distributed free to those who are counted as poor. No one bothers to keep fertiliser and diesel prices in check, he complains. Labour is scarce because of the national rural jobs scheme guaranteeing 100 days of work at the minimum wage and electricity supply is only intermittent, forcing him to burn more diesel to run his irrigation pumpset. "What about me?" he asks. "At this rate, I will have to give up agriculture." It is not just farmers who are contemptuous of the promise of every-thing for a vote.
Uday Kumar, a tile worker, believes that freebies are making the people of Tamil Nadu fat and lazy. With free rice and free television sets, people are being encouraged to eat, watch TV and be reduced to the level of animals. "If mosquitoes are biting his children, it is the job of the father to buy fans for the family. If he expects the government to do even this, he is not fit to be a father," he remarks about the AIADMK's promise of free fans. He has a reason to feel embittered. While the state's finances are being emptied to pay for goodies, businessmen and workers like Uday Kumar are being made to suffer due to lack of electricity. Power cuts ranging from three to six hours a day means work can never be completed on time.
Farmers who rely on borewells can't use their diesel pumpsets. But Karunanidhi, 87, thinks such munificence is the hallmark of a benevolent government. In the evening of his life he has returned to his hometown Tiruvarur, which is also the birthplace of Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshithar and Syama Sastri , the trinity of Carnatic music. The freebies and other welfare schemes, the chief minister vows, will continue and be expanded. But only if the people ensure that Jayalalithaa is kept out and he stays on. The road from Thanjavur to Kumbakonam, a distance of about 40 km, is narrow, winding , enclosed on either side by paddy fields, and studded with temples large and small. On the way lies Pasupatikoil, home to the Pasupati Nathar temple. Senthil, who works at an engineering college nearby, was an ardent follower of Karunanidhi.
But now he has switched sides and blames the DMK patriarch for nepotism . The chief minister's youngest son Stalin is his heir apparent and deputy; son Azhagiri and grand-nephew Dayanidhi Maran are union ministers and daughter Kanimozhi is a Rajya Sabha MP. "In Tamil Nadu, democracy is 'rule by the family, for the family, of the family' ," he says. Even so, Karunanidhi has a large, hard core of supporters who continue to remain loyal to him and the DMK. But alliance partner Congress, whose stronghold this area once was, seems to be in poor shape. Murugan, who runs a stall selling soft drinks, says he will vote for the Congress in Papanasam, but only reluctantly.
The ruling party in Delhi is riven with factionalism in Tamil Nadu, he says, and cannot escape the taint of corruption. "How could Raja have made all that money without the Congress knowing about it?" he asks, referring the spectrum scandal where the former telecom minister is accused of profiting by selling mobile phone frequencies at dirt-cheap rates.
Andimuthu Raja is in jail, Kanimozhi has been questioned by the CBI, and relations between the Congress and the DMK are fraught. While the spectrum scandal has occupied national attention , it is not the main issue in the assembly election; it is just one more issue. East of Kumbakonam and on the way to the Bay of Bengal lies Tribhuvanam, where Kulottunga built yet another Chola masterpiece in the 12th century — the Kampahareswarar temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. On the outskirts of what is now an overgrown village, Kartikeyan, 42, plies his trade as an automobile mechanic.
He guards his democratic right very carefully, saying an election is the only time he can make his voice heard. He voted for the DMK in 2006 and this time it will be the AIADMK, but not with any great enthusiasm. "It is not wise to keep anyone in power for too long; that is why the AIADMK. But I am waiting for real change."
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