Jaya campaigns while others parley

CHENNAI, AUG 8: Puratchi Thalaivi Jayalalitha Jayaram is on the move. While other parties are still sorting out their problems across neg...

CHENNAI, AUG 8: Puratchi Thalaivi Jayalalitha Jayaram is on the move. While other parties are still sorting out their problems across negotiating tables in Chennai, the AIADMK general secretary8217;s election bandwagon has already covered hundreds of kilometres in the dusty hinterland of Tamil Nadu.Her Tempo Traveller has already cruised through the northern Vanniyar belt, waking up the slumbering voters. The caravan has also touched the heart of Tamil Nadu and will hit the southern districts which is the famous fortress of the AIADMK.

The miles she has covered may not matter, but the political message she conveys will. Her typical campaign day starts post-lunch and rolls on non-stop through several street-corner meetings, winding up at an 8220;organised8221; public rally at an important town in each constituency. And she repeats her lines at all places 8212; she has a five-minute speech for street corner halts and a one-and-half-hour address for public rallies.As she has hit the hustings after pulling down the VajpayeeGovernment, the minimum hope of her bete noire should have been a hostile public reaction. But the response from the crowd 8212; ranging from moderate to good turn-out 8212; is far from politically inhospitable.

First, she deftly dribbles along the defensive flank 8212; explains to the electorate why she pulled down the BJP Government. 8220;I came to you one-and-half years back to make Vajpayee the Prime Minister8230; But he betrayed you and me on all fronts. The BJP is inimical to the national security8230; hence, I severed ties with the BJP,8221; she says.,She then proceeds to disassociate herself from the Opposition bungle after the fall of the Vajpayee Government. 8220;The secular parties frittered away the golden chance I provided to replace the BJP Government,8221; she says.Meticulously, she attempts to demolish the Opposition campaign against her 8212; from the ruling DMK8217;s charge that she was delaying trial in the corruption cases against her to the BJP8217;s allegation that she pulled out because the Centre did not bail her outof the cases. Finally, she launches into an offensive against the BJP and DMK. And understandably, Kargil is her 8220;Brahmastra8221;. 8220;What was the Government doing when the infiltrators sneaked into Kargil?8221;she asks. She slams the Government over the Bhagwat issue, former advisor to Union Finance Ministry Mohan Guruswamy8217;s charges of corruption and the 8220;whopping Rs 50,000-crore telecom scandal8221;.

This over, she calls for support for the secular and democratic front of AIADMK, Congress and Left parties. And there lies the chink in her armour. Having dubbed Vajpayee as the master betrayer, she fails to project an alternative. In the wholly negative campaign, Congress finds a mention only once. And Sonia Gandhi figures nowhere. Obviously, she does not want to gift her opponents a chance to cudgel Sonia.

But she has gained where the DMK lost. Jaya is the leader of the Front in Tamil Nadu and her word is final. So, TNCC chief Ramamurthy pays obeisance when her caravan touches his Tindivanam constituency. Andshe rewards him by declaring his candidature for Tindivanam even before Congress releases its list.