When politicians break down in public during poll season

There have been quite a few instances of political leaders and elected representatives breaking down in closed-door meetings and in front of the public in the run-up to the Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Such public display of emotion is rather uncommon.

“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 before the media recently. However, he went on to file his nomination as an Independent, hoping to enter the Assembly for a third consecutive term. He was subsequently expelled from the party.

Manchanallur MLA Parameshwari Murugan, also from the AIADMK, did not rebel against her party for not renominating her. Instead, when Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami was en route to a campaign stop, she approached his car, held his hand and wept profusely over being denied a ticket, as scores of cadre looked on. She swore that she would remain loyal to the AIADMK, while Mr. Palaniswami consoled her.

Not just ticket aspirants, even leaders have got emotional. When the DMK was playing hardball during the seat-sharing talks, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.S. Alagiri’s voice choked with emotion at a closed-door meeting as he narrated to party functionaries the manner in which the negotiations were being handled.

Some candidates turned emotional while campaigning for votes. Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister Sevvoor Ramachandran recently broke down while canvassing votes in a Vanniyar-dominated village, and was consoled by PMK cadre, who assured him of support from the community.

Then there were those who grew sentimental while recalling personal memories, like Khushbu, the BJP’s Thousand Lights candidate, did while reminiscing about her mother.

Commenting on those who were denied party ticket turning emotional, G. Palanithurai, retired professor of the Gandhigram Rural Institute, said, “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, said turning emotional could be one way to sway the party leadership with the aim of getting it to change its decision. “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 said.

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