CHENNAI: DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin urged party cadres to counter ruiling TVK’s slogan targeting his party by chanting “Om Kali, Jai Kali…” across election campaign platforms.Addressing a party gathering on Sunday, Udhayanidhi targeted TVK chief C Joseph Vijay over his earlier use of the rhyming attack, “Om Sakthi, Parasakthi… DMK oru Theeya Sakthi” (DMK is an evil force), during political rallies, news agency PTI reported.“For the past two years, wherever he went, he consistently invoked ‘Om Sakthi, Parasakthi’ to target us. At that time, they were in the opposition and we were in power, and we listened to what was said. Now we have an opportunity to give it back,” Udhayanidhi said.He coined the counter-rhyme “Om Kali, Jai Kali… TVK oru Odugali” (TVK is a runaway) and led cadres in raising the new chant.He instructed them to take it directly to the electorate without naming the TVK chief.“Don’t even bother mentioning his name. Just say ‘Om Kali Jai Kali’ along with their party’s name. In every campaign rally, whenever you meet the public, keep repeating this and register it firmly in the minds of the people,” he told the gathering.Stepping up his offensive, the Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly referred to the Karur stampede in which over 40 people lost their lives.He alleged that the opposing leadership had fled accountability instead of answering queries from the media and the public at airports in Tiruchirappalli and Chennai, PTI reported.Udhayanidhi asserted that the public would see through attempts to evade responsibility and directed party functionaries to sustain the counter-campaign during door-to-door outreach and public rallies ahead of the upcoming polls.(With agency inputs)
