The Tamil Nadu campaign and election is resonating among the city’s Tamil diaspora.
Rajendran Appadurai is excited about his visit to his native place Elumalai in Madurai, Tamil Nadu (TN). With polling scheduled on April 13, this 30-year-old migrant mason from the 8,000-plus Tamil settlement inside Aarey colony, Goregaon, wants to be home to vote and catch all the action. “After all the one who wins Madurai wins the state,” he said adding, “this time it will be a tough fight.”
The TN campaign and election is resonating among the city’s Tamil diaspora. Appadurai and his neighbours may be daily wage earners, but they do not mind foregoing earnings to vote. And they make no attempt to hide their allegiance. “Annan is like God. He has done so much for us poor,” he said, referring to Union minister MK Alagiri, also TN chief minister Karunanidhi’s son.
What about the corruption charges? “When you give things like rice, TVs and mixer-grinders there will be expenses. How much can they give from their own pocket?” explained Appadurai with the practiced ease of a DMK cadre. His neighbour Tyagarajan and wife Tilakavanti, who are leaving for Tirunalvelli, are also staunch DMK voters. “Jayalalitha makes tall promises, only Karunanidhi ensures they are fulfilled,” they said.
The freebies too are finding a lot of support. While Ramesh Kaundar is heading home to show his support to actor Vijayakanth’s DMDK, his wife Geetha is going along for other immediate concerns. “Last parliamentary elections I got one colour TV and 14 kilos of rice. The TV stopped working so I’m hoping to get a new one,” she told DNA.
Kaundar however is confident that Vijaykanth “is sure to cleanse the system, just like in his movies”.
In the north eastern suburb of Bhandup, Tamil fish mongers of Madraswadi are all praise for the rival party AIADMK. Jayalalithaa’s promises of an increase in cash assistance during non-fishing season, setting up of fish processing parks, and sea food export processing zone have appealed to these migrants from Nagapattinam and Karaikal.
Mary Arul, busy knitting a crochet veil for her visit to the Vailankani shrine back home is a strong Amma supporter. “When my cousin and his neighbours were arrested by Sri Lankan Navy it was Amma who raised the issue with Delhi and had them released.”
In Dharavi where the Tamil conclave has been the backdrop to movies like Nayakan based on the life of late don Varadaraj Mudaliar, 24-year-old son Shanmuga is keen to go back home.
“Today everybody is respected based on identity. Why should we negate ours?” he said. “Being there will make me bond with my people,” he said.
Upper castes in well-off Tamil strongholds like Matunga may not be going in big numbers to vote as most are still sore about being pushed out. “We were hounded out by parties who made caste their one-point agenda,” said Seshadri Iyengar, a Matunga resident. “Between the two Jayalalitha seems like the lesser evil,” grins the 85-year-old. Surprisingly the lady of the house Padmalaxmi is unhappy about elections. “Everytime there’s an election our maid from Dharavi wants to take leave to go and pick up the freebies being distributed,” she complains.
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