LOK SABHA SRIPERUMBUDUR CONSTITUENCY AND CAMPAIGNING STRATEGY

G.BALAMURUGAN

DMK

JAGATHRAKSHAKAN, S. THIRU (SRIPERUMBUDUR (TAMIL NADU))

Party:DMK

S/o: Lt. K. Swamikannu

Age:  66

Address:  No.1, First Main Road, Kasturibai Nagar, Adayar, Chennai-600020.

Name Enrolled as Voter in: 26, Velacherry (Tamil Nadu) constituency , at Serial no 910 in Part no 154

Contact Number: 04424913113

Self Profession:Social Worker

Spouse Profession:Business

AIADMK

RAMACHANDRAN, K.N. THIRU (SRIPERUMBUDUR (TAMIL NADU))

Party:AIADMK

S/o|D/o|W/o: Late.K.Narayanasamy

Age: 59

Address:NO:4/163,G.S.T.Road,Vandalur Otteri,Chennai-600 048

Name Enrolled as Voter in: KANCHEEPURAM (Tamil Nadu) constituency , at Serial no 532 in Part no 21

Email:targetknramachandran@gmail.com

Contact Number: 044-22750538,9444084901

Self Profession:Business
Spouse Profession:Business

CAMPAIGNING STRATEGIES OF DMK AND AIADMK

DMK CAMPAIGN STRATEGY:

the defining moment in DMK's election campaign in Tamil Nadu this year, it would probably be ailing Tamil Nadu CM M Karunanidhi suddenly going on an "indefinite" hunger strike in early April, demanding immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka.

Although the fast - which the rival camp referred to as having started after breakfast and ending before lunch - lasted all of six hours, he managed to highlight the party's stance on the Sri Lankan issue.

Despite not campaigning actively this time round, the octogenarian managed to out-shadow arch-rival AIADMK Jayalalithaa's chopper-hopping campaign strategy by highlighting the achievements of DMK being a part of the UPA coalition at the Centre.

Be it the impromptu "Vadukku vazanguhirathu, therku therukirathu" slogan, referring to the inflow of central funds to TN, or showcasing the massive infrastructure projects and investments attracted in the IT, telecom and industrial sectors in the state in the last five years, the leader successfully emphasised the progress made by the DMK government in the state with the support of the Congress.

DMK's affinity with the UPA government at the Centre also helped when the Congress took no heed of the feelers sent by AIADMK chief to renew the alliance with her party. She asked Congress to ditch "the sinking DMK boat" recalling the natural and cordial relationship between the AIADMK-Congress partnership that existed in the past.

The DMK and Congress cadres got a big boost when PM Manmohan Singh visited Chennai and called on the CM in the hospital. Later, Sonia Gandhi addressed a public meeting jointly with Karunanidhi. That time, she reiterated the alliance with DMK and both shared mutual admiration.

An astute politician with 50 years of distinction as an undefeated legislator, the DMK chief focused on implementing the promises his party had made at the assembly poll in 2006 and which led to his becoming the CM for a record fifth time.

The most populist measures he has implemented are supply of rice at Rs 1/kg through PDS, waiver of co operative farm loans, distribution of free colour television sets, free gas stoves with gas connection, enhanced old age pension, marriage assistance, unemployment allowance, free house site pattas, free electricity to handloom and power loom weavers etc.

True to his resolve, he presented the poll manifesto itself in the form of three State Budgets with provisions for all these welfare measures for the masses. His Government has also retained the free bicycle scheme for school students and adding egg to nutritious meal scheme. Above all, he has motivated and galvanized the official machinery by revoking the ban on recruitment and the stringent measures imposed in the previous regime.

The DMK chief leveraged the cordial Centre-state relationship to get more support for the State. Soon after 2004 LS poll, he bargained with Congress and got key portfolios for his candidates - including IT & Telecom for Dayanidhi Maran (which later went to A Raja after the feud with Maran bothers) and Shipping, Road Transport & Highways for TR Baalu and Palani Manickam for Minister of State of Finance.

The reunion of DMK's first family late last year too was a big political achievement for the DMK patriarch. The stand-off between MK Azhagiri and the Maran brothers (Dayanidhi and Kalanithi) proved costly for both parties. While Dayanidhi lost his cabinet portfolio, Azhagiri was painted as a villain on the Maran-controlled immensely popular Sun TV.

The reunion was a well-timed affair, coming about six months before the elections. This gave the political strategist enough time to bolster the family's "we-are-one" image among voters and not letting family politics overshadow party issues and performance during the poll campaign period.

AIADMK CAMPAIGN STRATEGY:

The AIADMK's meteoric rise in popularity in the e-campaigning space has taken everyone, including national and regional parties, by surprise.

An analysis by Alexa.com, an Internet ranking website, shows that AIADMK's two-month-old website stands at 18,853.

The DMK was the first amongst the Dravidian parties to announce the formation of an Internet wing in the party in September last year. The AIADMK, a late entrant though, seems to have surpassed not just the DMK, but also other parties in a short time.

Experts in the social media field attribute this meteoric rise to chief minister and AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa's well-crafted and integrated strategy.

“Though they (AIADMK) might have joined the fray only in February this year it could be well deciphered that several months of home work in planning and meticulous implementation has gone behind it,” Mr Valavan, chief executive officer of MobiledIN a digital marketing company, said.

The AIADMK's website has its visitors viewing at least five webpages on an average and the average time spent by a visitor on the website is nearly six minutes.

The official website of the BJP has only 2.44 page views per visitor, with only three minutes being spent on the website. The Congress has a similar number. The AIADMK supremo ranked number one, pushing US President Barack Obama to  second place during this period on Topsy sentiment analysis.

AIADMK's Facebook page, launched in late February, has about 50,000 followers. The FB page has been very active with several conversations around Ms Jayalalithaa's election campaign speeches and achievements and her prospects of becoming the next Prime Minister.

Yet another pioneering initiative that the AIADMK undertook was Amma's voice, a dial-in service with Ms Jayalalithaa's voice.

Anyone who could not attend or listen to her election speeches could dial in to a specific mobile number and listen to her short election messages of about 30 seconds.