Rats! TN candidate makes a point
An independent candidate for the Perambalur Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu has been going around holding a live rat in his mouth during his election campaign in the constituency.
It's not unusual for candidates to adopt novel methods to attract voters, but this is as awful as it can get.
An independent candidate for the Perambalur Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu has been going around holding a live rat in his mouth during his election campaign in the constituency.
Jaishankar, 28, says he is doing this to highlight the fact that many farmers of the Cauvery delta are on the brink of starvation because of the water crisis. Three years of drought and the lack of Cauvery water have rendered thousands of farm hands jobless. "I want to highlight their plight," he says.
Riding a bullock-cart and dressed like a typical Tamil Nadu farmer, he appeals for votes with a rat in his mouth. "The rat doesn't bother me," says Jaishankar, who belongs to an agricultural family of Thuraimangalam village. He studied up to Class 12 and plunged into politics because of the collapse of agriculture in the region.
Jaishankar says he doesn't expect to win, but he wanted to do something different to attract the attention of voters. "I have heard that farmers in far-flung areas have survived by eating rats," he says, hence the idea.
Is he not worried about catching any disease? "Absolutely not, I am on a mission," he says.Where did he get the rat? "That's not a problem. Rats are running all over the place. If this runs away, I can always find another one."
Incidentally, Perambalur is a DMK fortress. Sitting DMK MP and former Union minister A. Raja is seeking re-election by highlighting the Jayalalitha government's "failure" to provide succor to farmers.