No gifts this time,DMK hopes to cash in on govt schemes

It was the death of sitting MLA Veera Elavarasan of MDMK that necessitated the 2009 bypoll here

Two summers ago,this rural nondescript constituency gave an infamous formula to electoral politics,which found mention across the country and even in the diplomatic cables as revealed by WikiLeaks. But this time at Thirumangalam,with the officials determined to wash off the stain,it is back to the basics of Indian politics price rise,power shortage and poverty.

It was the death of sitting MLA Veera Elavarasan of MDMK that necessitated the 2009 bypoll here. It was the third successive one in the Madurai region,with the DMK-led ruling alliance winning the previous two. The latest bypoll,coming at a time when the state government was facing controversies and allegations,was to be a prestige election.

What ensued was an all-out effort to win that election,bribing voters with cash and gifts money was given in installments,gifts including gold jewellery and clothes for the women,and tokens for liquor for the men. It is nothing new to get gifts during elections,but that was special, recalled A Malaisamy,a government driver.

DMK candidate Latha Adhiyaman won the election comfortably,a victory that took its architect M K Alagiri to greater heights. He was made the organising secretary of south Tamil Nadu the very next day after the results.

To be fair to the ruling party,almost every party in the fray bribed the voter; victory proved the DMK was more benevolent. It is not fair to say money is the deciding factor. If Thirumangalam bypoll victory was earned by bribing voters,how does one factor in the around 15,000 votes lead that Congresss Manicka Tagore got against MDMK general secretary Vaiko from this segment in the last Parliamentary polls, asked veteran politician Sedapatti R Muthiah,whose son M Manimaran is the DMK candidate from here this time.

Muthiah charged the Election Commission of going overboard with their management of this election,alleging that they have restricted him from even meeting his own functionaries. It is not money but the good schemes of the Karunanidhi regime that is going to win us the election, said the former minister.

Starting his career with the DMK,Muthiah joined late matinee idol MG Ramachandran when the latter floated the AIADMK,and was the Speaker of the House when J Jayalalithaa became the CM for the first time.

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However,Muthiah is more known for the stir he caused in April 1999,when the Vajpayee government was felled by one vote. Muthiah,the AIADMK parliamentary party leader,famously pressed the button to abstain from the trust vote,one in which Jaya was adamant about pulling down the BJP government. He blamed it on the equipment. But he also failed to return the paper slip to correct the mistake. He was sidelined and expelled a year later.

Facing Manimaran is another turncoat,M Muthuramalingam of the AIADMK. Muthuramalingam was always known to be close to Alagiri,a proximity that got him a ticket from Thirumangalam in 1996 Assembly elections which he won. But towards the fag end of the regime,he crossed over to the rival group.

We are active on the ground in checking any case of cash and gifts, said Muthuramalingam.

With cash and gifts out of the way,the constituency is back to the traditional politics of party allegiance and issues of governance.

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And if the officials are able to maintain the vigil till the last,Thirumangalam will be able to shrug off the tag that it got two years ago.