COVID-19 restrictions take away the festive spirit
Electioneering in Madurai city has not picked up yet.Flags and festoons that are ubiquitous with elections are conspicuous by their absence.
Besides, additional COVID-19 restrictions in electioneering not permitting road shows, padayatra, vehicle rally till February 11 by State Election Commission has taken the sheen of the election campaign.
With the ban on pasting posters and wall writing already in force, the election fever is yet to catch up with the city residents.
A senior police officer said that the real campaign would start only after final list of candidates in the fray is known.“Candidates from the Dravidian parties/alliance have begun the campaign in an organised way.Others are yet to kick start.For the independents, the campaign can start only after symbols are allotted to them,” he said.
S. Ajith Kumar (26), who is contesting as an independent candidate in Ward 1 of Madurai Corporation said that he cannot go out to campaign without the symbol.
“People will ask for my symbol, if I go out for campaign.I will have to wait till the symbol is allotted,” he said.
Similarly, the cacophony created by public address systems fitted to autorickshaws and campaign vehicles is absent leaving the streets.
A three-time councillor, K. Jayavel, of AIADMK, who is contesting from Ward 16, said that he has already hit the streets.With a handful number of his partymen and supporters carrying the party flags, he has been campaigning for the last two days.
“I don’t find anything missing in this electioneering as I have been going for door-to-door campaign with pamphlets,” he said.In order to attract the voters, he has been displaying his silambam skills on the roads.
Similarly, R. Ramesh Babu, a DMK functionary said that the ground work for election campaign has begun in his ward.
“Our partymen have been meeting 10 to 20 families every day and maintaining a constant touch with the voters,” he said.
Probably, for the parties that were yet to get connected with the masses, it will take some time for regular electioneering, he said.
The partymen say that the best way of electioneering for the candidates in the local body polls was to reach out to each and every voter in person.
“A woman resident asked me as to why I was not covering my mouth and nose with a mask.I told her that she needs to identify me by my face which she agreed to,” Mr. Jayavel said.
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