Dayandhi Maran's secretary said he would start campaigning in Nungambakkam, an upper class area in Chennai, at 5 pm sharp.

It was already 4:45 pm, but the preparations to welcome the man who was visiting the area for the first time had only begun. Young men were busy tying DMK party flags at the junction, even as the womenfolk, unmindful of the activity around them, were washing their clothes on the roadside.

One could also see AIADMK festoons and huge posters of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa all over. In fact, pictures of arch-rivals Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi were almost cheek by jowl to each other.

For the DMK, by design or otherwise, had organised the meeting right next to the local All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party office.

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