DMK candidates had an unusual request to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. Over 20 candidates of DMK and Congress took to Twitter to "appeal" to Modi to campaign in their constituencies to "widen their winning margin".
DMK's campaign was aimed at mocking the BJP's unpopularity in the state. While some wanted Modi to campaign for their opponents so that they can romp home, the remaining asked him to come to their constituencies to ensure that they win by huge margins.
“Dear Prime Minister @narendramodi, please campaign in Thiruchendur. I am the DMK candidate here and it will help me in widening my winning margin. Thank you sir,” read a tweet posted by Anitha Radhakrishnan, DMK's candidate from Tiruchendur, one of the six abodes of Lord Murugan.
The tweets were identical but posted from the candidates' respective handles. Nominees from Congress also followed suit. The trend began a couple of days when Kartikeya Sivasenapathy, DMK's challenger to AIADMK Coimbatore strongman and Municipal Administration Minister S P Velumani, asked Modi to campaign for him.
“Dear prime minister Mr Narendra Modi. Please campaign for Mr S.P. Velumani, local administration minister. I am the DMK candidate against him and it will be very useful for me if you support him,” he wrote.
While the Tamil Twitter had a hearty laugh, BJP was unusually silent. Not just candidates, but DMK chief M K Stalin also told a rally recently that the DMK's support base increases when Narendra Modi campaigns against the party.
“It is an election strategy. It is not mocking at the unpopularity of the BJP but stating the fact,” a DMK leader told DH, adding that the anti-BJP sentiment is “still strong” in Tamil Nadu. He recalled that even BJP candidates in Tamil Nadu have avoided using pictures of Modi in their campaign material.
The campaign by DMK “welcoming” Modi is in stark contrast to the now famous #GoBackModi hashtag that trended worldwide in April 2018 for the first time when the Prime Minister visited Tamil Nadu at the height of Cauvery agitation.