Karunanidhi (seated), wife Dayalu Ammal (on right) and son MK Stalin (second from right) with other members of the family in Chennai on March 23

Father M. Karunanidhi once wrote film dialogues for an actor who became a political rival and founded the AIADMK. Son M.K. Stalin is now borrowing the same actor’s lines to try and win an election.

“Ungal veettu pillai (I am your family’s little boy)” is the 58-year-old deputy chief minister’s sales pitch before voters in Kolathur, his new constituency in north Chennai.

The line is derived from one of the late M.G. Ramachandran’s cult films, Enga Vettu Pillai (My Family’s Little Boy). The former chief minister had played the double role of twin brothers, one a meek young man and the other a buccaneer.

Stalin apparently hopes the line will help his efforts at an image makeover, from that of a rambunctious political scion and bully to that of a well-behaved, serious heir.

“Although he is two years younger than (his brother) Alagiri, the party has accepted him as the Kalaignar’s successor because he is known better throughout Tamil Nadu,” a political aide claimed.

But “Kalaignar” Karunanidhi and his younger son have the same problem: they are both wooing a new constituency.

Chennai city had always been the duo’s pocket borough. So, the chief minister’s migration to birthplace Thiruvarur in Thanjavur district, and that of Stalin to Kolathur from Thousand Lights in the heart of the metropolis, have been the subject of gossip.

One theory is that the 2G scandal’s impact on urban voters has forced father and son to flee their hitherto safe nests, especially as the flames have singed members of their family such as Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi.

“This speculation is rubbish,” protested Chennai’s DMK mayor, M. Subrahmanyam.

“Kolathur is a hundred per cent city seat. There was pressure from 65,000 of our cadres for Stalin to contest from here because north Chennai is neglected unlike the southern city seats. If the seat is held by a heavyweight, development will come.”

Stalin has been busy wooing the government employees who make up nearly 60,000 of Kolathur’s 1.97 lakh voters.

“He is telling them how the DMK government faithfully implemented pay commission recommendations and handed out close to five lakh jobs by filling long-pending vacancies and creating new posts. Jayalalithaa never did this,” claimed V.G. Arasumani, DMK assistant secretary in the constituency.

Will this be an effective counter to the AIADMK’s corruption plank? Visitors to Kolathur’s new park, named after Karunanidhi’s late nephew and central minister Murasoli Maran, had divergent views.

To H.G. Elangovan, a retired government official, the spectrum scandal is “no big deal”.

After prefacing his opinion by saying he was “not committed to the DMK or the AIADMK”, he said: “But when I think of Jayalalithaa and Sasikala, I think this is a better option. Here, it’s at least one family member checkmating another; there, Sasikala is an extra-constitutional authority. Jayalalithaa says nothing to her; Sasikala is a law unto herself and that is dangerous.”

To L. Anbumani, a former municipal employee, it’s a set of other factors that count.

“This area got its flyovers, roads and this park thanks to the DMK. I voted for the AIADMK in the last two elections but this time I am undecided. I cannot ignore the other things this government has done,” he said.

“My maid gets 25kg rice a month at Re 1 a kilo. I have come across poor women who have got self-help loans to set up businesses, and students who have got free bus passes.”

His fellow walker, S.R. Mani, chipped in to say: “I have land in Tirunelveli, so I return to my native village every now and then. The 2G allotments have proved to be a boon. I know of poor cowherds and goatherds who never leave their homes without a cellphone and keep alerting one another about where to find good grazing ground.”

For some, though, A. Raja’s “deeds” are “unacceptable”.

“Tamil Nadu has a lot to be proud of but unfortunately, the good things have got overshadowed by 2G. The state has earned notoriety as the home of the most corrupt among politicians,” said T.N. Rajagopal, a college teacher.