Chennai flashpoint to end Vaiko yatra

In 1994, two years before the Assembly elections, Vaiko launched a similar statewide roadshow as he walked out of the DMK and launched the MDMK. The ‘‘renaissance march’’ this time around, when the two are in alliance, has made the DMK uneasy. His former rival and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi’s son, M.K. Stalin, is being projected as the chief ministerial candidate and Vaiko’s padayatra is being seen as an image-building exercise, less than two years before the next Assembly elections.

And Vaiko’s credentials — his 19-month stay in jail, his consistent stand on the Tamils issue, his decision not to contest the LS polls and keep out of the Congress-led ministry.

About 20 km from Chennai, marching under the sun, sporting a turban and his trademark shawl, Vaiko insists things are different this time. The Opposition alliance in the state is ‘‘intact’’, he says. ‘‘The situation is different now. We have better understanding now…Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) is the leader of the DMK now…And I have cordial relations with Stalin.’’

Instead, he turns the fire on Jayalalithaa. ‘‘She has become an autocrat. She will not listen to any sane advice,’’ says Vaiko. ‘‘I am gripped by a sense of sorrow…I could see for myself the sufferings of the people. Unless bold steps are taken, the future is in danger…I will meet the PM soon and urge him to take steps to link southern rivers.’’

Vaiko claims the padayatra has been something of a revelation: ‘‘The invaluable experience of interacting with people… the poor. It is more than reading hundreds of books.’’