I am the son of the soil, I am sure to win: ANR Panneerselvam

AIADMK’s A.N.R.  Panneerselvam is confident of taking on former chief minister M. Karunanidhi in Tiruvarur; in fact, he says he will win by a margin of “at least 40,000 votes” notwithstanding that the Dravidian veteran has never lost an election. The “excellent work” done by chief minister Jayalalithaa will help him win the May 16 poll, Panneerselvam told S. Thirunavukarasu in an interview in the midst of his hectic campaigning on Friday.

Q You have been fielded against a giant. How confident are you of winning?

I have no fear of losing. Karunanidhi may be a veteran but then, he is an outsider for us in Tiruvaur. He is actually from Nagai district. I am the true son of this soil and the people of Tiruvarur will certainly elect me. And they will prefer me as I will be more accessible than him.

Q What are your winning chances?

I have no doubt I will win; in fact, I will win by a margin of more than 40,000 votes.  Karunanidhi did not turn up at Tiruvaur after winning the seat in the 2011 elections. How do you think people will support a person who did not come here at least to thank them for electing him? On the other hand, people here know me very well. They know they can approach me anytime.

QYou say Mr Karunanidhi never came here after his victory. But how do you expect a busy politician like him to take care of his constituency personally?  He has a constituency representative who takes care of things here, right?

If that is so, then why didn’t the DMK give the ticket to that representative? Why give the ticket to Karunanidhi?

Q What do you think will go in your favour in this battle with the giant?

Every household in Tiruvarur has at least one souvenir of Amma government’s kindness and concern for the people—free laptops for the students, free mixer grinders for the kitchen, free table fan, free saris and dhotis, and so on. The list is endless.

People will not ignore that; will not forget all the good work of Amma’s government.  Amma is the real strength behind us. Her welfare measures will help us solidly.

Q Did you get any threat from anywhere since you are contesting against a political veteran?

No. I haven’t received any threats. I have been in politics for a very
long time and have seen 10 elections. I have worked for the party in so many elections and I don’t bother about anything. Amma is there to take care of everything.