Chennai: The perceptible public anger against the alleged apathy and inefficiency of the DMK government in providing relief to the victims of Cyclone Michaung is seen as an opportune moment by both the BJP and AIADMK to capture the imagination of the State’s electorate and win them over in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Apart from the scathing attacks launched on the government by leaders of both the parties – AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and BJP State president K Annamalai included – in open forums, closed party meetings had deliberated on the apparent common perception that the ruling DMK’s popularity has plunged to its lowest ebb now and expressed hopes on cashing it on it.
Many speakers at the meeting of BJP district level leaders held through video conference on Thursday night had articulated the issue of DMK losing people’s goodwill. The BJP functionaries had mentioned that even as the DMK had earned the ire of the people for the clumsy work on flood relief, the acceptance level of the BJP had gone up in view of the yatra undertaken by Annamalai through the State.
So, speakers said that the party should make use of the present opportunity to reach out to the people highlighting the government’s alleged lapses and win their confidence with a view to converting the trust into votes, expressing a hope that it was possible under the present circumstances.
That euphoria among the functionaries even revived the talk of requesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contest from Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha constituency in the 2024 elections. If Modi were to contest and win the Lok Sabha seat, he would become Tamil Nadu’s representative and that would give an additional boost to the growth of the party in the State, the functionaries felt.
Similarly, Palaniswami had confided with his close associates that the time was ripe for the AIADMK to regain its trust among the people of the State as the resentment over the DMK’s bungling was on the rise and that it should be capitalized immediately.
In a bid to embark on the exercise, Palainiswami immediately announced the dates for the party’s grand general council and executive meetings on December 26 at their regular venue of the sprawling Sri Varu Venkatachalapathy Palace mandapam at Vanagaram in Chennai.
The AIADMK’s plan is to pass resolutions against the government and announced protests to enhance its visibility among the common people and regain the old image of the only alternative to the DMK, now that it had cleared all the obstacles that were earlier thrown at its progress by former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, ousted general secretary V K Sasikala and others like TTV Dhinakaran.
The announcement for the meeting was made on Friday by Palaniswami, who said that presidium chairperson A Tamilmagan Hussain would be o the chair and that the meeting was being held under Rule 19 (vii) and 25 (ii) of the party Constitution to ensure that it would stand the test of law even if it was challenged in future.
So, party sources expect important decisions to be taken at the meeting and the escalation of the attack on the DMK government that had already received widespread criticism with not only their traditional antagonists but also others openly questioning the government actions with regard to tackling the situation arising out of the onslaught by Cyclone Michaung through social media channels.
Both the BJP and AIADMK see the heckling of DMK top leaders by angry people on the streets turning into votes in favour of them if they properly channel the anti-incumbency sentiments for their benefit.
