Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai tried to focus more on direct engagement with the public as his “En Mann En Makkal” yatra progressed into the third day, covering Mudukulathur and Paramakudi here on Sunday.
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While the crowd at the rally points of the yatra in these two towns was lesser, particularly in Mudukulathur, compared to the crowd in Ramanathapuram a day earlier, Mr. Annamalai increased his interactions with the public.
He obliged to almost every request from the party cadre and the public for taking pictures and had brief interactions with shopkeepers and the public during his walk. The increased engagement with the public contributed to delay in the schedule.
For instance, while he was supposed to listen to the live broadcast of the 103rd episode of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat at 11 a.m. at a public gathering organised by the party in a temple in Selvanayagapuram village, he ended up listening partially to its recorded version around 1.30 p.m.
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The party had earlier said that Mr. Annamalai would be walking around 10 kilometres a day. However, he walked just 1.5 kilometres at Ramanathapuram and even less than that at Mudukulathur.
However, party sources said that owing to concerns about shorter distances expressed by Mr. Annamalai, the route planned for the walk on Sunday evening in Paramakudi was altered to a slightly longer route
A complaints box, unveiled by the party leaders in Chennai as one of the key features of the yatra, was supposed to travel prominently with Mr. Annamalai to collect complaints from the public, mainly against the present government in Tamil Nadu. However, this box was largely missing from the public’s view during the yatra until Sunday.
Mr. Annamalai garlanded the statues of Muthuramalinga Thevar and Veeran Sundaralingam in Mudukulathur. In his speech in the town, he continued his stringent criticism of the DMK, for its alleged corruption and dynastic politics.
Highlighting the water scarcity prevalent in Ramanathapuram district, he blamed the DMK government for alleged corruption and poor implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission, which according to him would have ensured piped water connection to every household.
He said the people of Ramanathapuram wanted Mr. Modi to contest for the Lok Sabha from the constituency as they were desperate that at least then their problems would be resolved.
Mr. Annamalai made a stop at Sayalkudi to interact with a group of palmyra farmers. Listening to their grievances, he alleged that the prohibition on toddy and the government’s focus on Tasmac to protect private interests were harming the palmyra farmers.
