COIMBATORE, India, Jan 17, Reuter: Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi swept through Tamil Nadu on Tuesday in last-minute campaigning for elections in the southern state vital for his Congress (I) party.

Gandhi is pitted against an aging screen goddess and a scriptwriter in Saturday’s vote, which is widely seen as an important pointer to national elections due by the end of the year.

‘A good Congress performance in a state where it has not won sole power in 20 years would be a major boost. A poor one could demoralize a party which suffered serious setbacks in the electorally crucial north last year.

Perhaps most importantly, the vote will be a test of Gandhi’s own popularity, by far Congress’s biggest electoral asset, tarnished by allegations of corruption in his government.

In Tamil Nadu, Gandhi’s appeal is directed mainly towards the women who form nearly half of the state’s 35 million strong electorate and who flock to his meetings in large numbers.

We come to see him because he is the son of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi,” said 25 year old housewife Subba Ratnam, “also because he is so good looking.”

On a 100km (60mile) stretch of road between Madurai and Coimbatore cities on Monday, Gandhi frequently stepped down from his car to throw Saris at women who had waited through the night for a glimpse of him.

”We are especially concerned about raising the status of women. You all must come and vote and make sure you bring your families with you,” Gandhi said at every stop.

On Wednesday, Gandhi was scheduled to head for two Northeastern states also voting on Saturday.

But he will end his campaign tour back in Tamil Nadu on Thursday, a reflection of the importance he has attached to the state, where women have played a crucial role in elections over the last two decades.

Many were dedicated to the late Chief Minister, M.G. Ramachandran, always known as MGR, who used his popularity as a major Tamil film star to launch his political career.

Huge posters of Jayalalitha, posing with MGR in the hit films they made together, decorate the state. She heads a faction of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Aiakmk) which split after MGR’s death.

Beside them are NeonLit posters of Janaki, MGR’s wife who leads the other faction of the AIADMK.

Just as threatening for Congress is Karunanidhi, who heads the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). A former Chief Minister, he is still one of the influential Tamil movie industry’s leading scriptwriters.

Karunanidhi ruled the state for two terms after the DMK toppled the Congress in 1967 with a manifesto that called for Tamils to preserve their culture, language and identity from the Central Government, which is an arrogant promoter of the Hindi language.

Janaki, Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi all use the Hindi issue to win support, forcing Gandhi to make concessions on his policy of making Hindi as the National language.

Challenging these charismatic figures will not only be a test of Gandhi’s popularity, but also of the rebuilding of the Congress Party Organization in the South. The opposition believes he will fail.

In the past 20 years, Congress leaders allowed the organization to wither away by opting to be junior coalition partners of the ruling party in Tamil Nadu. Now the Prime Minister’s efforts cannot reverse this trend overnight,” said opposition party spokesman.

Article extracted from this publication >>  January 20, 1989