Head hunter turns vote-hunter

CHENNAI: Whether appearing for boardroom meetings in designer suits or canvassing votes among the public in karai veshti, K Pandia Rajan, a human resources guru, adopts a similar approach ��� meticulous planning and devising of strategy .

The 50-year-old founder of Ma Foi, a global HR company, is perhaps the only corporate professional in the electoral fray in Tamil Nadu, brushing shoulders with seasoned and little-known politicians.

While netas of other parties will be grappling with microphone and speakers to get introduced to their voters, Pandia Rajan, nominated on behalf of actor Vijayakanth���s DMDK for Virudhunagar, a rural constituency in the South, has hired a public relations agency to establish his ���brand identity ��� among the voters.

The HR professional, who will be crossing swords with candidates from the Congress and the AIADMK alliance, has already made a headstart in campaigning. While the AIADMK camp is still wrangling over seat sharing with the MDMK, the Congress is yet to release its list of candidates.

Pandia Rajan���s apparent corporatism of electioneering differs from the age-old practice of soliciting votes through
public meetings and campaign speeches. Besides making an elaborate study about the constituency by appointing a team of researchers to go into the status of its economy and industrialisation , he has also come out with a separate manifesto for the constituency.

���My campaign has a singleminded focus of one-family , one-job as the level of unemployment is very high in Virudhunagar ,��� Pandia Rajan says. Though he is better known in urban areas, he has chosen to contest from this backward seat as he hails from Vilampatti village in Sivakasi falling under the constituency.

While netas of other parties are wracking their brains to come out with something novel to offer to voters, Pandia Rajan has tied up with Sri Sri Ravishankar���s Art of Living through his Sornammal Educational Trust to institute ���youth leadership training programme ��� that aims to train 100 youths from disadvantaged backgrounds in Virudhunagar and Madurai districts.

On completion of training, the trainees will start on a oneyear field work programme during which they will conduct free evening classes for children on hygiene and first aid and also work in education and health care programmes. Each youth leader will be awarded an honorary pay of Rs 1,000 per month and later will be helped in job placements, Pandia Rajan says.

However, the head-hunter���s campaign run has courted trouble with the Election Commission following complaints that he distributed some items to a section of the electorate. Denying the charge, the DMDK candidate said it was just a hit back by the DMK government after seeing the tremendous response to his party and the edge they have gained over other rivals.

From boardroom to poll field
The HR professional, who will be crossing swords with candidates from the Congress and the AIADMK alliance, has already made a headstart in campaigning Pandia Rajan has tied up with Sri Sri Ravishankar���s Art of Living through his Sornammal Educational Trust to institute youth leadership training programme