Author: G Babu Jayakumar

Though the broad contours of electioneering did not undergo much of a change, the use of digital technology to reach out to the poor and the illiterate had a tremendous impact.

Are film stars shooting into oblivion in the political universe of Tamilnadu? Yes, as a close watch of the electoral juggernaut rolling through the State now reveals, heroes, heroines, comedians, sidekicks and technicians from the celluloid world seem to have lost the pride of place they had in the State’s political firmament as prime influencers and party ambassadors.

With just 12 days left for the elections, time is running out for the serious political parties to come up with a strategy to garner the votes of the women of the State. For that is a vote that will count the most in the final reckoning.

What started as a casual inducement has now assumed the proportion of an organised edifice that has survived the flying squads, poll observers and other law-enforcing authorities in the past three or four elections and now functioning efficiently.

As the Lok Sabha elections assume the contours of a straight fight between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi for the Prime Minister’s job, the constituencies in which the two national parties, the BJP and Congress, are contesting in Tamilnadu for the 18 April polls are drawing special attention.

His fight for a symbol began in 2017 after the AIADMK splintered subsequent to the incarceration of his aunt V K Sasikala, which followed the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

Whatever the symbol be, given his track record, Dhinakaran would popularise it all over Tamilnadu. And therein rests the catch: It could affect the prospects of the AIADMK-led alliance.

It’s some time since the bugle was blown for the biggest battle of the ballot in the nation. Yet on the streets of Chennai, the writing on the wall is clear: Blank.