Chennai: Seeking the mandate for a successive term for uninterrupted continuation of her welfare schemes, Chief Minister and AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa appealed to the electorate in Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly Constituency to ensure her victory with a higher margin than the previous time.
During her 30-odd km long road show in the constituency on Friday, she said the huge victory in the June 2015 bypoll, in which all other candidates in the fray lost their deposit, was proof of the affection people have towards her. "That is my breath", she added, striking a chord with the voters.
In June 2015, Jayalalithaa won the by-election to RK Nagar Assembly Constituency defeating CPI candidate C. Mahendran by a margin of 1.5 lakh votes. She appealed to the voters to elect her again with higher margin in the May 16 poll and vote for the party symbol, 'two leaves'.
She appealed to the voters to give her another chance to the serve people, especially the poor and downtrodden. She said she was elected earlier by the people to defeat "adharma and opportunism." Similarly, she asked them to elect her again in the May poll to defeat 'adharma'.
When Jayalalithaa made her often-repeated catch phrase, "I am for people, and because of people," the crowd cheered her with thunderous applause.
Jayalalithaa recalled that during the 'unprecedented rainfall' in November and December last year, R.K Nagar was also affected by the flood. She said, "I had visited the constituency and ordered speedy relief work". "As a result, relief work was taken up on war-footing and affected families were immediately moved to schools where food was provided. As many as 97,000 families were provided with Rs 48 crore worth of assistance.
She noted that after AIADMK assumed power in 2011, R K Nagar had been provided with various schemes including drinking water, port, flyover and drainage projects, much more than what the previous DMK government had done. She said, "My government had taken up infrastructure projects worth Rs 320 crore and drinking water and drainage schemes worth Rs 23 crore in the constituency."
She also assured the people of more welfare schemes if the party returned power with a huge victory in the polls. During her speech, she pointed out a few proposals announced in the party manifesto.
Braving a sultry weather, a large number of people, mostly women and children, assembled along the roads and greeted her. She addressed the people at Surya Narayana Street, VOC Nagar, EH Road, Tondiarpet, JJ Nagar, Korukkupet and Ezhil Nagar. The convoy passed through several arterial and narrow roads in North Chennai wending its was slowly past party cadres and people.
