Candidates entangled in the multi-corner election contest in all five Assembly constituencies of the district for the April 23 polls are yet to fire all cylinders as the electioneering has been insipid even after the leaders have visited the district.

Election campaign that would usually reach the crescendo immediately after the visit of their leaders is dull in Tirunelveli even after DMK chief M. K. Stalin, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami and TVK founder and actor Vijay had completed their electioneering in the district.

Election booths of candidates, which would be busy round-the-clock with the party workers until the declaration of results are declared are empty now. Most of the candidates have not even set-up their area-wise election booths.

Candidates visiting every house to seek support of the voters has become a thing of the past as the contestants cannot be seen anywhere walking around as it was quite usual in the past. Candidates standing atop their campaign vehicle with a broad smile and appealing to people with folded hands and seeking their support has become a rare spectacle. The candidates, while going along the main roads in their campaign vehicles, avoid visiting the interior roads.

This task is taken care by the next level workers. While door-to-door canvassing of votes by the candidates has become an outdated and arduous practise, the carefully selected party office-bearers or their loyalists look after this gruelling job at micro level. The candidates of political parties, whose campaign vehicles would only traverse the main roads and never touch the interior roads, have assigned this job to their area secretaries who delegate this job to another 20 or 25 unemployed or under-employed youth from his area.

These youth should ‘take care’ of the 40 to 50 voters assigned to them until the day of polling and distribute the pamphlets to the voters allotted to them. These temporarily hired men should also ensure that these voters exercise their franchise without fail on April 23.

“I’ve been given the job of meeting 45 voters of a particular booth in my area at regular interval and encourage them to vote for our candidate,” said a gig worker. When asked about for more details about the ‘encouragement’ to be employed for taking the voters to the booth on April 23, he left with a smile. “You know it better,” he said while leaving.

As the traditional electioneering is gradually fading out, the candidates have embraced modernity in their campaign where the social media platforms creep in, which is quite handy for them to reach the voters without much difficulty. Since almost all the candidates of political parties have hired a team of youngsters for their ‘war room’, it decides the electioneering strategy and also design the election campaign materials accordingly.

After collecting the phone numbers and social media IDs of all voters, especially the young electorate, through the micro level workers, the candidates’ poll promises for the constituency are being sent through social media platforms almost everyday. “We prepare these electioneering contents and share it with the voters through social media platforms, which evoke instant response – both positive and negative – from the voters, which help us improve the quality of content,” the ‘war room’ head of a wealthy candidate here said.

While social media platforms are directly taking care of by the ‘war room’ members, the candidates take care of the print and electronic media. After the ‘lead member’ of a ‘war room’ of a recently launched political party posted a voice message on a social media platform meant for journalists in Tirunelveli that they had paid heftily a few print and electronic media houses for carrying news about the candidate’s election campaign everyday, authorities are probing the veracity of this claim.

“We can see a few newspapers, news channels and the YouTube channels carrying everyday the election campaigns of a few candidates in the fray in the 5 constituencies of Tirunelveli. It is very evident that these newspapers and the electronic media have been paid heavily for promoting the candidates by carrying the news on their electioneering. As per Election Commission of India norms, ‘paid news’ is illegal and hence we’re probing the audio clips on ‘paid news’,” said a senior official.

To strengthen their ‘electioneering’ further, the candidates promise the village heads and the heads of dominant castes in particular rural areas, of helping financially the construction of the place of worship in their hamlet or supporting the upcoming festival in their village, which go well with the villagers.

“It is highly unpleasant and nauseating as neither the leaders nor their cadres lack vision and policies. It is pathetic to see thousands of young voters gathering voluntarily for their leader who cannot speak even a minute about the country’s or the State’s education policy. In a State which has seen the electioneering and unparalleled administration of stalwarts like K. Kamaraj, the so called political leaders are indulging in cheap strategies for fetching votes. We staged a play in Aditanar College, Tiruchendur in 90s in which the candidates would visit different families and prepare lunch for the family members, all for getting votes. The play was written to make fun of the gradually eroding political system. I never imagined that it would become reality one day as the so called leaders and their candidates are making vada or coffee in roadside teashops and eateries,” said former Prof. Xavier Amalraj of Palayamkottai.