When politicians break down in public during poll season

There have been fairly a number of cases of political leaders and elected representatives breaking down in closed-door conferences and in entrance of the public in the run-up to the Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Such public show of emotion is somewhat unusual.

“Why was the seat denied to me? What mistake have I committed? I have been a true loyalist of the party all along,” lamented former Minister and Perundurai AIADMK MLA Thoppu N. Venkatachalam as he broke down earlier than the media lately. However, he went on to file his nomination as an Independent, hoping to enter the Assembly for a 3rd consecutive time period. He was subsequently expelled from the social gathering.

Manchanallur MLA Parameshwari Murugan, additionally from the AIADMK, didn’t insurgent in opposition to her social gathering for not renominating her. Instead, when Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami was en path to a marketing campaign cease, she approached his automotive, held his hand and wept profusely over being denied a ticket, as scores of cadre seemed on. She swore that she would stay loyal to the AIADMK, whereas Mr. Palaniswami consoled her.

Not simply ticket aspirants, even leaders have gotten emotional. When the DMK was taking part in hardball during the seat-sharing talks, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.S. Alagiri’s voice choked with emotion at a closed-door assembly as he narrated to social gathering functionaries the style in which the negotiations have been being dealt with.

Some candidates turned emotional whereas campaigning for votes. Puucho Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister Sevvoor Ramachandran lately broke down whereas canvassing votes in a Vanniyar-dominated village, and was consoled by PMK cadre, who assured him of assist from the neighborhood.

Then there have been those that grew sentimental whereas recalling private recollections, like Khushbu, the BJP’s Thousand Lights candidate, did whereas reminiscing about her mom.

Commenting on those that have been denied social gathering ticket turning emotional, G. Palanithurai, retired professor of the Gandhigram Rural Institute, stated, “It has become a new trend for [some] political aspirants to turn sentimental when they are denied a chance [to contest an election] as they are unduly attached to power and position.”

Professor Sandeep Shastri, a political analyst, stated turning emotional may very well be one solution to sway the social gathering management with the purpose of getting it to vary its choice. “The emotional outburst could also happen because the aspirant may have invested a lot in getting a party ticket. It is also a direct consequence of the absence of democracy within a party. There must be transparency in the selection of candidates so that such incidents do not recur,” he stated.

Puducherry, too, witnessed such incidents. Former Public Works Department Minister A. Namassivayam, who crossed over to the BJP and had to surrender his house constituency of Villianur to the AINRC, broke down earlier than his supporters over being shifted to Mannadipet, and was consoled by them.