In East Tambaram, Chitlapakkam and Thiruneermalai, posters are up, urging voters to keep their conscience and palms clean. As part of what is called “My Vote Is Not For Sale” campaign, Chitlapakkam Rising volunteers went from door to door in Chitlapakkam and surrounding areas and enjoined voters to refuse money offered for votes and also reject the candidates guilty of this impropriety.

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Sunil Jayaram, a core volunteer at Chitlapakkam Rising, says the group asked the voters to vote for candidates only on the basis of their credentials.

He adds: “Getting cash for votes will create a vicious cycle in which every project undertaken by politicians will be tainted by corruption. If you allow this to continue, the cycle of corruption will persist.”

On April 13, office-bearers of Chitlapakkam Muthulakshmi Nagar Welfare Association, led by its president L. Sundararaman, took an oath not to accept money for their votes and also to vote without fail, ensuring 100 percent voting in the locality.

“My Vote Is Not For Sale” campaign has had a ripple effect.

On April 12, residents of Thiruneermalai joined hands with ‘Arappor Iyakkam’ to sensitise voters against selling their votes.

Spearheading the campaign, B. Saravanan, treasurer, Federation of Thiruneermalai Residents’ Welfare Associations, says, “Bharathi Kannan, an active volunteer in the movement, handed over a set of pamphlets and stickers (My Vote Is Not For Sale) and asked us to join the campaign.

The pamphlet poses a set of questions to the electorate and provides factual information, prompting them to join the campaign.

The campaign started at River Bund Road (Erikarai Theru), which falls under 47th Ward in Tambaram City Municipal Corporation. The campaign was taken not just to residents but also traders; stickers were pasted on walls of shops, Saravanan points out.

In Ward 31, the message was conveyed to parents through their children.

“If we spread awareness among 100 people, at least twenty people will have a change of heart. The change starts with you,” the young activist observes.

Saravanan, along with other residents, pasted stickers at apartments and individual homes, in addition to shop fronts.