Chennai: Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa's election rallies are turning into death traps for the AIADMK workers. An example is the recent death of two party workers at a rally in Salem, mostly due to sunstroke. The ingredients for a tragedy were clearly in place - an abnormal heat and the changed dynamics of Jayalalithaa's current campaign. In her campaign for the May 16 polls, the AIADMK chief has unusually chosen to do a rally every alternate day, mostly in the afternoon, clubbing an average 16 candidates for an event.
Each candidate is expected to mobilise about 20,000, which comes to over 300,000 per rally. In Salem, Jayalalithaa had assembled a staggering 51 candidates on stage. The result was a traffic jam that started over 10 km from the rally venue, made up of long queues of open-top trucks packed with people. The party supporters abandoned their vehicles walked the final stretch for a glimpse of their "Amma".
Thousands were already seated on the ground in the open, without the benefit of portable air conditioners running at full blast for AIADMK leaders seated on a covered stage. The water pouches provided by the organisers were not sufficient to quench the thirst of the large crowd waiting in the heat for hours. For a rally scheduled at 3 pm, Jayalalithaa's helicopter touched down close to 4 pm. By then, several had waited or been on the road for at least four hours.
The sight of the chopper triggered a moment of panic as thousands at the security barriers surged forward. Just a week ago, two were killed in a stampede at Virrudachalam, 250 km from Chennai. The reasons for her highly compressed campaign schedule remain unclear; it may partly be because of her health. At Salem, she walked on stage in a halting manner, delivering the entire speech while seated, a practice she has followed throughout this campaign and a first for her. That however, may not justify scheduling rallies in the 40-plus heat. After receiving flak from opposition, Jaya released a statement expressing regret over the deaths and said the families of the deceased would be compensated.
