'Elect DMK for good governance'

By M. R. Venkatesh

TINDIVANAM, APRIL 17. The DMK president and Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, today kept ``fiery adversarial polemics' to the minimal, as he embarked on a whirlwind election tour of Tamil Nadu.

Striking a positive note at most places, as he jumped into the electoral fray, Mr.Karunanidhi sought another five-year mandate from the people for the DMK, which he said will ensure the continuance of `good governance'.

As star campaigner for the DMK-led NDA, Mr.Karunanidhi who started from Saidapet in Chennai after releasing the party's Manifesto for the 2001 elections, emphasised at public meetings en-route how his party's good governance of the last five years had made concrete achievements, in developing infrastructure or raising people's living standards. ``Good governance needs good people who respect the law and not those who bend it to suit their ends'', Mr.Karunanidhi said at Maduranthakam, taking a dig at the AIADMK leader, Ms. Jayalalitha, filing nomination at Krishnagiri yesterday, despite the Election Commission norms clearly prohibiting anyone convicted for two years from contesting. Mr. Karunanidhi said while he was sure that his papers for Chepauk in the city would be found valid when he filed them on April 23 after the first leg of his tour, ``there are others who start their campaign amidst uncertainty.''

Asserting that everyone was equal before the law, he asked what would be the consequences if a convict serving a jail term had sought permission to contest the election.

Mr.Karunanidhi spoke about how the DMK Government had been a watchdog against corruption, particularly at the level of MLAs', MPs' and top levels of the administration. He also sought to impress upon the people how the prices of essential commodities had been kept in check in the last five years.

Driving through Chengalpattu into the heart of the Vanniyar belt, Mr. Karunanidhi evoked good response from the DPI cadres in particular. In pockets, the BJP and Makkal Tamil Desam cadres joined in to put on a spirited show amidst what was essentially a DMK-led effort in reaching out to the voters.

Even as Mr.Karunanidhi began unbundling the pro-farmer promises made in the DMK's manifesto in the rural hinterland, he also made it a point to tell voters at every point how to use the Electronic Voting Machine. The way-side crowds was not much to write home about until he reached Mathuranthakam.

Mr. Karunanidhi's campaign for the day ended with a rally in Villupuram.

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