OPS family women hit street to campaign for his son

MADURAI

:

Theni

is buzzing with campaigners in its villages, but three women stand out from among those seeking votes for the AIADMK candidate. They belong to the high-profile family of deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam whose son P Ravindranath Kumar is testing the electoral waters from there.


One the first day of this “family ladies campaign” a few days ago, P Vijayalakshmi, wife of the deputy CM, also accompanied her daughters-in-law as she was the only known face among them to the local people. “Her poor health makes it difficult for her to walk long distances, hence the younger ladies are doing the campaigning,’’ said a AIADMK cadre.

Led by Ravindranath Kumar’s wife R Anandhi, the group also comprises her brother-in-law Jaya Pradeep’s wife Keerthiga and daughter-in-law of the deputy CM’s brother O Raja. They are introduced thus by a person travelling on a vehicle in front of them: ``Here come the daughters-in-law of the soil”. The women then disembark from their vehicle and walk into the streets of the villages asking the people to vote for ``Irrattai illai’’. ``They did not speak much and only asked us to vote for the AIADMK, but we have never seen them before in public,’’ said S Lakshmi, a voter from

Periyakulam

.

Women in many villagers asked them their names and who the candidate’s wife was. As the campaign routes are organized and pre-planned, a group of women welcome these female campaigners when they come to the village. They come dressed in expensive cotton saris with shawls sporting the AIADMK colours. The ladies campaign which has been on for the past one week in Theni never overlaps with the campaign of the candidate. A group of male AIADMK functionaries are seen accompanying them at all the places. Pandiammal, wife of AMMK candidate Thanga Tamilselvan, also started campaigning for her husband in Theni on Tuesday.