Chennai: Tamil Nadu elections are always spiced up by the presence of celluloid stars, but this time, even as super heroes like Rajinikant kept a low profile, all contesting parties got national political leaders to add verve to their campaign exercise.
And of course, the two local stars, chief minister M. Karunanidhi and AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa led the campaigns for their respective coalitions from the front, criss-crossing the state by air and road.
Towards the final days, the campaign effort was also stepped up by the Congress camp, which got United Progressive Alliance chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek the blessing of voters, while All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi and senior Congress leaders like P. Chidambaram reached out to various constituencies.
On the other hand, the AIADMK trained its guns on the ruling front by highlighting issues such as corruption, the rise in prices of essential commodities and power cuts.
The DMK appeared to have figured out that the 2G spectrum scam would be less of a poll issue in rural areas, and therefore handed over a number of urban constituencies to the Congress, particularly in Chennai.
Among the popular stars on the campaign bandwagon were DMDK leader Vijayakant and comedian Vadivelu, while the Left camp got national leaders like Prakash Karat of the Communist Party of India Marxist and A.B. Bardhan of the Communist Party of India to drum up support in Tamil Nadu.
And of course, the two local stars, chief minister M. Karunanidhi and AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa led the campaigns for their respective coalitions from the front, criss-crossing the state by air and road.
Towards the final days, the campaign effort was also stepped up by the Congress camp, which got United Progressive Alliance chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek the blessing of voters, while All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi and senior Congress leaders like P. Chidambaram reached out to various constituencies.
On the other hand, the AIADMK trained its guns on the ruling front by highlighting issues such as corruption, the rise in prices of essential commodities and power cuts.
The DMK appeared to have figured out that the 2G spectrum scam would be less of a poll issue in rural areas, and therefore handed over a number of urban constituencies to the Congress, particularly in Chennai.
Among the popular stars on the campaign bandwagon were DMDK leader Vijayakant and comedian Vadivelu, while the Left camp got national leaders like Prakash Karat of the Communist Party of India Marxist and A.B. Bardhan of the Communist Party of India to drum up support in Tamil Nadu.
