41 seats to win, Congress awaits big guns to steer campaign

In just about two weeks, the state goes to the polls, but Congress, which is contesting 41 seats in a DMK-led alliance, is yet to give its campaign momentum. Big guns are missing from the meetings and discontent about candidates and constituencies continues to simmer long after nominations closed.At least 21 of the 41 constituencies are AIADMK bastions, where Congress candidates will find the going hard.
Just days before the party high command declared the first list of candidates, senior leader P Chidambaram had said the party was saddled with “unwanted seats“ conceded by DMK.
After Vijayakanth's DMDK refused to come on board, DMK was compelled to give more seats to Congress than it intended. Those denied tickets alleged nepotism in allocation saying children of senior Congress leaders were preferred.
Youth Congress leader S Jothimani, a protégé of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, didn't get the Aravakurichi seat she was eyeing as it was allotted to DMK, where its sitting MLA K C Palanisamy is seeking re-election. TNCC women's wing chief Jhansi Rani also lost out on her choice of Nilakkottai to DMK.
The Congress-DMK will finally start campaigning jointly on May 5 at a rally at which Congress president Sonia Gandhi and DMK chief M Karunanidhi will share the stage at Island Grounds in Chennai. Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to address a rally in Madurai on May 7 along with DMK treasurer M K Stalin. Rahul Gan dhi is also expected to speak at a public meeting in Coimbatore the same day at which DMK MP Kanimozhi is likely to participate, sources said. He will also lead a road show in Maduravoyal constituency in Chennai. The Gandhis have been not been able to tour TN earlier, said sources, as they were busy with campaigns in the other four states going to the polls.
This tardiness is odd in a party that, in the 1990s, made TN an important part of its plans. A senior Congress leader recalled how Rajiv Gandhi visited TN 13 times during the 1991 election campaign.
He said one of the reasons the party's national leaders had not arrived in TN earlier was the dependence on the DMK and its cadres to reach out to voters.
However, the leader said the Congress still has strong voter loyalty across the state even if it does not have the cadre strength it once did.“DMK will definitely gain several thousand votes in various constituencies because of us, which will give it an edge over AIADMK,“ he said.