Campaigning in Royapuram, AIADMK candidate irons clothes to woo voters ahead of TN polls

With the assembly elections round the corner in Tamil Nadu, candidates are leaving no stone unturned to bolster their chances, and by this, we not just mean making fancy promises in rallies or shouting slogans during roadshows, we mean ironing clothes. Yes, you heard it right, Tamil Nadu Minister and AIADMK candidate from Royapuram Assembly constituency D Jayakumar as part of his campaign, ironed clothes on Wednesday. 

Earlier, AIADMK's ally the BJP's candidate from Thousand Lights assembly constituency Khshbu Sundar, along with other BJP workers was seen making dosas as part of her campaign. 

Political scenario in Tamil Nadu

Taking a look back at the 2016 election, AIADMK came to power under the leadership of Jayalalitha for a successive term by winning a whopping 135 out of 234 seats in contrast to DMK 98 seats. Things were going smoothly until Jayalalitha passed away later that year, leaving her seat vacant, which needless to say, had many contenders. Firstly, it was filled by O Pannerselvam, but soon after Sasikala got elected as the General Secretary of the party and sought to take over as the CM of the State. 

Though in the beginning, Pannerselvam resigned and gave way to her candidature, after some time he began to rebel and things, as he may have thought, worked in his favour when Supreme Court convicted Sasikala in the disproportionate case, but unfortunately, E Palaniswami was picked as his replacement. Things between Pannerselvam and Palaniswami were sour, but on August 21, 2017, let go of their differences and united to pave way for the removal of Sasikala from the party. 

In the upcoming elections, the EPS-OPS-led AIADMK has joined hands with the BJP, PMK and other smaller parties to put up strong competition against MK Stalin-led DMK that is working in alliance with Congress, CPI, MDMK, VCK, IUML and MMK, and come back to power. The DMK that won 38 out of 39 seats in the Lok Sabha elections would, however not be easy to defeat.