Vaiko on his padyatra

Thanjavur (Tamil Nadu), Aug. 24: Murugan, a helper in his 20s, jumps out of a tanker before it can come to a stop and scampers across the Thanjavur-Nagapattinam highway to shake hands with marching MDMK chief Vaiko.

A couple of days ago, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called him as he was nearing Trichy and enquired about his padyatra.

Cutting across divides, Vaiko has generated tremendous goodwill since he began his 1,200-km Marumalarchi Payanam (renaissance march) from Tirunelveli to Chennai on August 5.

Like local boy and finance minister P. Chidambaram, who undertook a tour of the state while in the wilderness to better understand the needs of the people, Vaiko decided on the march during his 19-month incarceration to learn about his people.

The former MP did not contest the Lok Sabha elections in May. Tamil Nadu is scheduled to go to polls in 2006.

“I have decided to work full-time for Tamil Nadu… I had already decided when I was in Vellore jail to go to the people and learn from their suffering and experiences,” said Vaiko.

As he enters the parched Cauvery delta region, the sun is blazing. A white cloth tied on his head, dark glasses and canvas shoes are his only protection from the oppressive heat.

He walks at a comfortable pace averaging about 30 km every day in his usual white dhoti and kurta and a red-bordered black scarf round his neck. Accompanying him at all times is a dedicated band of about 1,200 MDMK volunteers.

“You cannot do politics from air-conditioned rooms… There is nothing special about my food on this padyatra. I share whatever food is prepared for the cadre,” Vaiko said, passing the famous Punnainallur Mariamman temple. But there is a doctor at hand, just in case.

Vaiko marches cheerfully, apparently unconcerned that the DMK, a few days ago, again projected M.K. Stalin — son of party patriarch M. Karunanidhi — as the rising sun of Tamil Nadu politics.

“I have been in politics for 42 years now and I have served a difficult constituency like Sivakasi well. I am only concerned about how best I can work for my people in my remaining years,” said Vaiko.

“I am not here to ask for votes and we are still with the DMK-led alliance,” he told a gathering by the roadside. “Party politics is only at the time of elections.”