Tamil Nadu politicians take to 'chai pe charcha'

Tamil Nadu's leaders seem to be taking to 'chai pe charcha' a tradition which was already in vogue in the state much before Prime Minister Narendra Modi popularised it.

In an attempt to connect with the locals, state politicians are making visits to street side tea kadai (tea stall) to sip a cup of tea as part of the image building exercise.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami along with state Health Minister Dr C Vijayabaskar on Tuesday had a cup of tea at a roadside stall at a remote village named Samuthiram in Salem on Tuesday, a government release said.

He stopped over for his tea break after inaugurating a primary health centre in the village which falls under his native constituency.

Bernard D' Sami, professor of History at Loyola College said that Palaniswami was an accidental CM and does not have an image of his own. Terming it as a PR exercise, he said, "He is trying build up a populist image by taking tea with others. I think he wants to identify himself with a commoner. After all the votes of the commoner decide who should be in power".

Not only Palaniswami, DMK working President MK Stalin also attempted an image makeover when he took out a statewide tour in the run-up to 2016 state assembly polls. Stalin shed his trademark attire of white shirt and dhoti by sporting an informal wear with canvas shoes. To connect with people, he rode a bicycle, scooter and travelled in autorickshaws, buses and shakes hands with the common man, something not attempted by him before or by other top state politicians.