Parties launch high voltage poll campaign

Chennai: As curtains to Lok Sabha poll will come down in about 11 days, political parties have intensified their high decibel campaign. While Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami returned to the districts for his second leg tour, DMK chief M. K. Stalin has stepped up his high voltage campaign in the northern districts tearing into the PMK in the Vanniyar heartland.

AIADMK's coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam too has been firing missiles from his arsenal targeting the DMK. On Saturday he raked up the Neet (National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test) issue on which the DMK too has assured to scrap if it was voted to power, that his party's stand was to abolish the screening test for the benefit of the medical aspirants. And not wanting to be branded Hindutva group as it aligned with the BJP, Mr. Panneerselvam said the AIADMK alone was capable of ensuring violence-free State where also the minorities could live in harmony.

Campaigning for ally VCK in Villupuram, Stalin lashed out at PMK founder Dr S. Ramadoss who had aligned with the AIADMK, for "suppressing" facts on the 20 per cent reservation ensured by his father and late Dravidian stalwart M. Karunanidhi for the Vanniyars. "We don't need a certificate from you. It is enough if the people of that community support us," the DMK chief said.

Campaigning for his son Karti Chidambaram who is contesting from Sivaganga Lok Sabha constituency, Congress senior and former Union minister P. Chidambaram dared the Chief Minister for a debate on the development initiatives in Sivagangai.

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