On campaign trail Tamilisai banks on development, pays street vendor digitally for 'Vada'

CHENNAI: Bharatiya Janata Party's Lok Sabha candidate from South Chennai constituency, Tamilisai Soundarajan kick-started her election campaign for the general elections on Wednesday The BJP has fielded former Telangana Governor and party leader Tamilisai Soundarajan from Chennai South for the Lok Sabha polls, scheduled to begin from next month.

During her campaign in the Koyambedu area, Soundarajan bought a 'Vada' with the party workers at a stall operated by women and paid for it via UPI.

Speaking to the reporters here, she said, "I wanted to reveal the development practically. I took 'vada' from a roadside shop. The owner was a woman; Women Empowerment. And the payment was digital. This is the development we all were dreaming of... The development has reached the downtrodden level, to the street level, to the marginalised people, the women. There is nothing that I have to propagate. Everything is revealed here. PM Modi has reached this level. Our country is in development mode..." South Chennai will see a high voltage clash with incumbent DMK MP T Sumathy up against Soundarajan and former AIADMK MP J Jayavardhan, who won from here in 2014.

The election for 543 Lok Sabha seats in the country will be held in seven phases starting April 19. Nearly 97 crore voters are eligible to cast votes in the general election. All 39 seats in Tamil Nadu will vote in a single phase on April 19 and the counting of votes will be held on June 4. Tamil Nadu ranks fifth in terms of Lok Sabha seats, with 39 seats, including 32 unreserved seats and seven reserved for SC candidates. In the 2019 elections, the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance secured an overwhelming victory, winning 38 out of 39 seats. In 2019, DMK won 23 Lok Sabha seats with 33.2 per cent vote share, Congress bagged 8 seats with 12.9 per cent vote and CPI won two seats in Tamil Nadu.