Faction forced to remove the ‘coffin’ at the intervention of the police

The byelection campaign in Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency plunged to a new low on Thursday evening, with the AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) party hitting the streets on a campaign vehicle with a dummy coffin with Jayalalithaa’s figurine mounted on the bonnet seeking “justice” for her death. The coffin, with a figurine of Jayalalithaa and the national flag draped on it, had the party’s ‘Electric Pole’ (modelled on twin lamps) symbol on it.

An hour into the ‘novel’ campaign — in which former School Education Minister Ma Foi K Pandiarajan also briefly participated — that drew widespread criticism, the party was forced to remove the ‘coffin’ at the intervention of the police, who acted on the instructions of the Election Commission.

The party spokesperson, Azhagu Tamil Selvi, pointed to the ‘coffin’ and told the voters, “This is our Amma. All of you promise on her ‘dead body’ that you will not vote for those responsible for her death.” She also waved a print out that had a design of the new ₹ 2,000 note on it. “Take the money, but don’t vote for her betrayers,” she said, even as a number of voters who were watching the spectacle unfold in the small bylanes of R.K. Nagar, reached forward to touch the feet of the figurine. Some women were even seen crying.

The campaign tactic was slammed by the AIADMK (Amma) camp, with the party spokesperson C.R. Saraswathi, who was also campaigning in the area, terming it as a “desperate act”.

Midway through, a group of policemen, led by R. Arnold Easter, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Washermenpet, intercepted the vehicle at the housing quarters in Bharathiar Nagar and told the campaigners to dismantle the ‘coffin’.

“The Returning Officer received a complaint and asked us to intervene. They can campaign, but officials are insisting they can’t use it (the coffin),” Mr. Easter told The Hindu.

Ms. Tamil Selvi refused to budge and made a few phone calls, but she was asked to continue campaigning without the ‘coffin’. Even as the ‘coffin’ was being dismantled, two other campaigners started screaming into the microphone, “Look at what they are doing to Amma. They didn’t let us see her (at Rajaji Hall). Now they are not letting you see Amma in this form too.”

As the ‘coffin’ was being wrapped in a bed sheet, they continued “They are covering Amma.Take a look at Amma for one last time”. Arguments continued with police personnel while the wrapped coffin was being taken into one of the election offices of the party. When police officials went inside, party men forced them out.