Parties seeking votes in the name of Sri Lankan Tamils

Electioneering for LS polls in Tamil Nadu has hardly touched on issues concerning the welfare of people in the state. Key political parties instead want voters to appreciate their views on the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka and the issue of a separate homeland for them.

Electioneering for Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu has hardly touched on issues concerning the welfare of people in the state.

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Key political parties instead want voters to appreciate their views on the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka and the issue of a separate homeland for them.

With the nominations drawing to a close for the May 13 Lok Sabha elections to 39 constituencies in Tamil Nadu, the campaigning is expected to pick up momentum in the coming days.

Parties have already raised the pitch on the emotive Sri Lankan Tamils issue, making it a key poll plank, with AIADMK and its partners training their guns on the ruling DMK and its ally Congress.

While AIADMK General Secretary Jayalalithaa has already started her campaign, arch rival and DMK chief M Karunanidhi will kick off the campaign from Tiruchirapalli on May 1.

A staunch critic of the LTTE and opponent of the separate Tamil Eelam concept, Jayalalithaa last night made a dramatic shift in her stand on homeland for Tamils, taking the view that a separate Eelam alone was the solution to the ethnic problem in the island nation.