Myth: People in Tamil Nadu's Andipatti constituency believe former chief minister M G Ramachandran (MGR) is still alive.
Reality: People in and around Theni and Andipatti know that MGR is dead, but they still vote for him -- out of gratitude for what he had done for the constituency; they will forever be indebted to him.
Like Kaliappan, a 50-something tea shop owner in the constituency's Kandamannur village.
Ask him who he will vote for in the May 8 Assembly elections and he shoots back, "Rettai Ilai." (Two leaves, the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party symbol.)
Ask him why and he says, "You don't know the kind of things MGR has done for us. If this constituency is better off than most other villages in the region, it is because of him. We will all vote for him."
A few sagely old men sitting on a bench outside Kaliappan's shop nod in agreement.
But hasn't it been more than a decade and a half since MGR died? Isn't Jayalalithaa the ADMK leader now? Hasn't she been representing the constituency in the recent past? What has she done? Ask Kaliappan these questions, and he breaks down.
"We will vote only for MGR. He is vaazhum theivam (living god)... Don't ridicule him. Do you know the atrocities the rich landowners committed on the poor when Karunanidhi was in power? They used to throw dead donkeys and dogs into the village drinking water tank. So many villages were without water, while the landowners used the drinking water to irrgate their lands. Karunanidhi did nothing. He was hand in glove with those people. MGR changed it all in one visit to the constituency."
Kaliappan is very clear about it. At a time when a basic amenity like clean drinking water was a distant dream, MGR changed things virtually overnight.
For that simple reason, Kaliappan will be indebted to his leader all his life. He will vote for his party symbol. Nothing else matters for him.
In a place where most people his age echo similar sentiments, is there any need for Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to come down and campaign at all. There is.
For, apart from people like Kaliappan, there are people like Murugan too.
People like Murugan are, to borrow a nowadays oft-used term, ultra-loyalists. For them, Amma is everything.
Ask Murugan who he will vote for; "Amma," he says.
Note the difference. While for Kaliappan it is 'Rettai Ilai', for Murugan, it is 'Amma'.
In order to keep people like Murugan buoyant, Amma's presence is needed.
Ask Murugan why he will vote for Amma, and he says, "She has ensured proper electricity supply and good roads. Healthcare in the villages has improved by leaps and bounds."
As though as an afterthought, he adds hesitantly, "But we need more employment for our children..." before trailing off, "...but she has done a fantastic job."
So why, even on April 20, is Jayalalithaa, who was initially scheduled to wind up campaiging in Andipatti on April 16, still canvassing in the narrow lanes of Andipatti braving rain and sun, while she still has most of the 234 constituencies to cover? Is it because of a third type of voters?
"I will vote for Jayalalithaa, but to be frank, she has done nothing beyond laying good roads. In fact, in the past 10 years, both the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the ADMK have done nothing but lay and re-lay roads," says Azhaguvel.
People like Azhaguvel are young; MGR, for them, will be a hazy figure.
They are educated; they know that water supply and good roads are not enough reaons to cast their votes in somebody's favour. They are unemployed; they want to know what Jayalalithaa will do for them.
And more important, among these people, there is a very fine undercurrent of dissatisfaction that not much has been done in the constituency after MGR's demise.
Says Rathinavel, an electrician, who holds a diploma in mechanical engineering: "Even the development you see here is not across the board. For example, in my village, which is on the other side of Theni district, there are still villages that face long power cuts, and highly irregular water supply."
He further alleges, "Even the college that has recently come up as promised by the chief minister does not have proper infrastructure."
Adds K Murugan: "Due to lack of employment opportunities, many young men from here have gone to Kerala as labourers. Something needs to be done."
"This time, she has promised employment opportunity for 5,000 people. We will see what she does," says Azhaguvel.
So, is Jayalalithaa in shaky terrain? Not just yet.
But if she doesn't take remedial action, she soon might be in trouble.
At least before the next elections, she needs to take cognisance of the new generation of voters -- a generaton of educated, unemployed youth who will want to know why.
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