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With barely three weeks to go for voting, party workers of both BJP and Congress are eagerly awaiting their top leaders Narendra Modi, LK Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to pep up the campaign in Tamil Nadu.
Barring DMDK chief Vijayakanth and his spouse Premalatha, other leaders in the BJP alliance are stuck with electioneering in their own constituencies.
BJP state unit chief Pon Radhakrishnan is busy in Kanyakumari, La Ganesan is confined to south Chennai, Vaiko is in Virudhunagar and PMK chief Anbumani Ramadoss is focusing on Dharmapuri.
PMK founder leader S Ramadoss is yet to hit the campaign trail. Similarly, in Congress, union Minister P Chidambaram has so far been campaigning only in Sivaganga for his son Karti.
Union minister G K Vasan launched the campaign only a few days ago and has addressed a couple of meetings. Though Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President BS Gnanadesikan participated in a few meetings, he is yet to fully gear up for electioneering. Other state Congress leaders, including former TNCC presidents K V Thangkabalu and M Krishnasamy are yet to make their presence felt.
Against this background, workers of both BJP and Congress expect the election rallies of their top leaders to brighten party prospects and energise them ahead of the last round of electioneering.
Several candidates in both parties are ploughing a lonely furrow. Asked if so far any party leader had campaigned for him, Mohan Kumaramangalam, Congress candidate in Salem said, “I have begun seeking votes...Vasan is expected to campaign for me on April 4.”
Similar is the situation in the BJP camp. Asked about the campaign of Modi and other leaders like Rajnath Singh in Tamil Nadu, BJP general secretary and TN in-charge P Muralidhar Rao said, “All leaders will come tentatively by the second week of April.” On the venue, he said the finer details were yet to be finalised.
TNCC president Gnanadesikan said “Madam Gandhi and Rahul will address election rallies in Tamil Nadu for sure.” The dates, however, are not yet finalised.
