Tamil Nadu assembly polls: It’s farmer EPS vs studious Stalin

Edappadi K Palaniswami has just begun his sarcastic attack on nemesis M K Stalin when he spots two men rushing to chase away a cow. He pauses and tells the two: “Atha adikathingappa. Maatta adikakudathu. Veratti vitta, athuva poirum,’’ (Don’t beat the cow. You shouldn’t. If you shoo it, it will walk away). The comment drew louder applause from the crowd than any of his poll promises at the road show in Pudukottai district recently.

True to the identity he seeks to build for himself – that of a farmer and a common man CM – EPS keeps his campaign speeches simple sans rhetorical overflow.

In Kongu dialect, his speeches are extempore, (he mocks Stalin for using reference sheets), full of candid remarks and jokes. That’s in stark contrast to Stalin who sticks largely to chaste Tamil, follows a pattern and adopts a more serious tone. The two use customised vehicles and prefer road shows, where they can address smaller gatherings in close proximity, rather than massive public meetings. But there ends the similarity.


If Stalin accuses EPS of `crawling on the floor’ to become CM, EPS retorts that he is not a lizard or a snake to crawl.

If EPS alleges that even M Karunanidhi did not trust Stalin, the latter responds that EPS is a traitor, who betrayed Jayalalithaa as well as Sasikala.

As Stalin warns of a probe into Jayalalithaa’s death, EPS alleges Karunanidhi and Stalin are to blame for her death, since they gave her mental agony. The war of words gets harsher with every passing day.

“Stalin talks about what went wrong in the last ten years and EPS talks about what went wrong ten years ago. Both are equally hard hitting. But yes, Stalin’s campaign speeches are multi – dimensional,’’ says political commentator Tharasu Shyam.

There is politics and ideology in Stalin’s speeches. He talks about Dravidianism, secularism, social justice and state autonomy, even as he elaborates on the DMK’s poll promises and the AIADMK’s flaws. EPS sticks to what the AIADMK has done in the past and what it intends to do if it returns to power. Stalin attacks the IADMK and the BJP, positioning himself as protector of Dravidian identity and Tamil rights. EPS limits himself to attacks on DMK and Stalin. Stalin invokes AIADMK icons M G Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa, and Sasikala, to drive home the point that EPS is no match for his predecessors.

THE IDEALIST | Kamal Haasan
To me, honesty is not an ornament, it’s like my skin. You cannot rip it away from me, he says in a public meeting. “Stand by the side of honesty on April 6,” he appeals in another. His party MNM’s manifesto does offer some creative solutions to problems, but the idealist in Kamal sometimes overshadows the politician in him during campaigns. Often, his campaign speeches sound like dialogues straight out of his movies. But the Ulaganayagan has no qualms. It was idealists who changed the world, says Kamal.

THE LADY CAPTAIN | Premalatha Vijayakanth
She invokes her husband and DMDK chief Vijayakanth in almost every sentence of her campaign speeches. The ‘lady captain’, as cadres call her, has two key elements during campaigns – to praise Vijayakanth and attack the AIADMK. But Premalatha also does something different – unlike other leaders who make scheduled stops and campaign in three or four points in a segment, Premalatha halts her vehicle and seeks votes wherever she sees a crowd, however small it may be.

THE ANGRY MAN | Seeman
He’s arguably the best orator in the TN political scene today. He quotes Thirukkural and Sangam literature and switches to colloquial Tamil in seconds to launch caustic attacks on rivals EPS and Stalin. He doesn’t spare the BJP either. Sweating profusely and thumping often on the podium, Seeman makes a war cry to his frenzied workers to protect Tamil pride.

THE WRONGED NEPHEW | T T V Dhinakaran
He takes a dig at Stalin, mocks EPS and pulls up OPS.

If elections were a route to capture power for other politicians, for Dhinakaran, it’s a means to hijack the AIADMK — and campaigns are tools to help him do that. He often talks about keeping ‘the evil force’ away from power, but the larger theme has always been to ‘expose the betrayers of Chinnamma’, all in attempt to position himself as the rightful heir of the AIADMK.