Upbeat mood prevails at busy DMK headquarters

A photograph of DMK chief M Karunanidhi inside the pocket of a cadre's white shirt summed up the mood of the party at its headquarters on Saturday. The photograph showed the 92-year-old leader smiling. Party cadres, who returned to Anna Arivalayam, the DMK HQ, after a round of campaigning in the morning, appeared upbeat. "We are hopeful and we will definitely win with a huge margin," said a DMK cadre. He had accompanied a candidate in the city for a last round of canvassing.

"People are fed up with the AIADMK government.They are looking for a change. And this time, they know that only DMK can help them," said M P Anbuthurai, DMK's area secretary of Thousand Lights.

As he talked about his ex perience with voters, more cadres joined in the discussion. "We had a long campaign schedule and heard the woes of many people, who suffered a lot in the December deluge. They are disappointed with the government. They said they will vote for DMK for a change," said another DMK cadre M Murugesan. As they spoke, cadres did not fail to acknowledge several senior leaders who drove into the party office to discuss last-minute poll issues. "Some senior leaders are camping in some of the constituencies where they think we are a little weak to ensure that the polling process goes smoothly," he said.

Even though there was a huge crowd in front of the DMK HQ and party chief Karunanidhi's residence at Gopalapuram in the city in the morning, both the areas remained deserted in the afternoon. "Our cadres are busy with campaign as today is the last day," said S Sundaram, a driver and party worker. "We are more confident than ever. Only when campaigns end, we usually get a clear picture. Now the picture is clear. We are sure that DMK will come to power," he said. The head office witnessed occasional visitors in the afternoon. Unlike in the morning, not many cadres were seen around. "Everyone is in Chintandripet where our leader (Karunanidhi) is campaigning. It's a big event for us. We are confident we will win," said Sundaram.