CHENNAI: A dash of Hindutva was added to the DMK’s campaign rally in Ambattur, when a small but vocal band of Shiv Sena (UBT) volunteers joined it on Wednesday.The group, draped in saffron shawls dotted with the flaming torch, the symbol of Shiv Sena (UBT), turned up unannounced to campaign alongside DMK candidate Dr A P Poornima, surprising even local leaders.
When Poornima began her campaign on Wednesday morning, around 30 people wearing saffron shawls joined her entourage. The incumbent MLA Joseph Samuel, who was accompanying her, initially did not recognize the group.When he inquired, they said they had been instructed by their national leadership to campaign for DMK as part of the INDIA bloc. They said the party had 3,000 votes in the constituency. The DMK rally then visited the lowerincome settlements where the Shiv Sena group came from.Shiv Sena party members, most of them Tamils, said they were drawn to the party for its Hindutva ideology and said the outfit had been active in the area for several years, focusing on local issues besides attending meetings in Maharashtra.
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“We have long-term civic issues such as sewage overflow, lack of piped water supply and borewells in slumboard colonies in Kallikuppam. We hope the DMK candidate will address these,” said Naveen Kumar, central Chennai district secretary of Shiv Sena (UBT).“We welcome all allies despite differences. Their party has a Hindutva ideology but locally, this group joined us to address needs for their voter base. We keep it at that level only,” said Joseph Samuel.
