Veerappan’s widow Muthulakshmi at Pennagaram. Telegraph picture

Pennagaram, May 2: Veerappan had once sought general amnesty to enter mainstream politics. Nearly three years after the forest brigand was slain, his widow is set to fulfil the dream.

Muthulakshmi Veerappan is contesting the May 8 Assembly polls from Pennagaram in Dharmapuri district as an Independent candidate.

But unlike her husband, whose reign of terror across the Tamil Nadu forest terrain is now part of lore, Muthulakshmi is trying to whip up a sympathy wave in her favour.

“You know the torture we had to undergo and my husband was killed in a so-called encounter,” says Veerappan’s widow as she goes from house to house along with daughters Vidyarani and Prabha.

“My two daughters were denied admission in 15 schools in Salem district just because they are Veerappan’s children and finally I had to put them in a school in faraway Chennai.”

Pennagaram has a little over two lakh voters and is dominated by the OBC Vanniyar community’s small and marginal farmers.

Wearing a synthetic saree, Muthulakshmi knocks on every door, holds the women’s hands and gently tells them: “Please vote for me.” Along with her daughters, she presents a picture of a “family of three women in distress”.

Another point she highlights in her campaign is “I lived only for three years with my husband in the forests”.

“A woman is coming, asking for votes, no... really asking for a decent life,” her campaign managers announce her arrival. They also appeal for small donations to run her election campaign.

Muthulakshmi steps out of the car and begins her speech with “don’t forget the seepu (comb)”, her election symbol.

“My husband was the protector of two lakh Tamils (including Tamils in Karnataka) from the forests. Now I want to be your protector from outside the forests and fight for your rights in the Assembly,” she promises.

Pennagaram badly needs some development ? better roads, schools and access to drinking water. Muthulakshmi also has a personal agenda. She has promised to unveil some of the “mysteries shrouding Veerappan’s death” to embarrass the government in the new Assembly if elected.

Although the Vanniyar-dominated PMK is part of the DMK-led alliance, a major chunk of the party’s leaders is working for her. “Veerappan gave the underdog Tamils a voice. But after his death, we want Veerappan’s name to be still remembered in this land,” says K. Rajendran, a PMK functionary. “She will win.”