Body buildings

Further,its three main contenders for the Lok Sabha work out of structures that are as telling as their occupants. Parvatipuram,a middle-class residential quarter of district centre Nagercoil,looks like jaded suburbia but it is no overbuilt maze where youd lose your way. But try looking for CPIM and you run into BMS. Arch rival BJPs labour wing has a freshly spruced up building,complete with banners,posters and hangers-on. The sole sign in the neighbourhood of anything like a political outfit. You have to retrace your steps and go way down a dipping lane before the Left partys office pops into view. Over a partly built-up basement,standing on concrete pillars,the modest district unit also houses the staff of sitting MP Bellarmin who is defending his seat. Currently,the pillar that props him up is AIADMK,no longer the DMK-Congress front.

This solves a major border problem for Kanyakumaris comrades. They can attack the Congress as merrily as their counterparts in neighbouring Kerala. Also with UPA links severed just in time,they can blame the Centre for all things going wrong in Sri Lanka. More than the CPIM,it is Tamil Nadus CPI,which is vocal about the Tamil cause,but if Jayalalithaa and new friend Vaiko raise the pitch and catch votes,Bellarmin wont wince.

His party men however are avoiding the issue altogether for now. The Central Committee is yet to equate Velupillai Prabhakaran with Che Guevara. But they cant evade a more pressing local matter equally outside the Marxian ambit religion. Barring the nearly 5 per cent Muslims,the rest of Kanyakumari has an almost even share of Hindus and Christians. To complicate matters,the powerful Nadar community follows both faiths. So,who is CPIMs Christian candidate mainly fighting? The comrade in the basement says BJP; the one on the floor above says DMK. Mercifully there arent any more floors.

One of two women candidates fielded by Kanimozhis party,Helen Davidson has a campaign office you cant miss. Take a turn from a main road in the heart of town and in a minute youll find the abode of the rising sun,DMKs poll symbol. It is well past sunset but you are flooded in light. Power cuts is a big poll issue and here in the middle of a housing colony stands a site all lit up like a mini indoor stadium. There is activity to match the illusion. Banners aloft,flags flying and people buzzing about. On twin posters outside,Kalaignar in dark glasses and Soniamma,eyes wide open,stand equally tall in the blinding light. Inside,Suresh Rajan,the states tourism minister,partys district secretary and campaign kingpin,is quick to shift the spotlight away from the plight of the Lankan Tamils. To the embarrassment that awaits his erstwhile comrades. Jayalalithaa will go with the BJP and the non-Hindu voters,Leftists included,will stay with us.

Of the three,the BJP office Illustrated has the most evident vaastu content. There is a little shrine built right into it at the very entrance. The direct divine gaze however falls on the new automobile showroom that has rented the ground floor. The party itself is a couple of floors above. It works out of two tiny corner rooms that seem far apart on a large vacant floor. Out of one emerges a spokesman: Candidate Pon Radhakrishnan lost last time,despite our tie-up with AIADMK,which turned out to be a liability. Now we start from a core base of 1,60,000 votes. More should come from Radhakrishnans own record as minister in the Vajpayee government. Rajnath Singh himself was here to promise him a Cabinet berth. The Kanyakumari region would love to see its only Central minister in 60 years to have a rerun. What does vaastu portend for this saffron southerner looking north?