A couple of hours after M Karunanidhi called off his fast in Chennai over the war in Sri Lanka, Jayalalithaa dismissed it in Pollachi as a farce enacted in connivance with the Centre. She also reaffirmed her newfound enthusiasm for Eelam and asked how a Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka can violate Indian sovereignty, as Kapil Sibal alleged. She stopped short of giving Sibal a lesson in geography, and added: “I need no lessons from him on patriotism.”

Sibal was the only Congress leader she named. Even as she attacked the party squarely, there was no mention of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, Manmohan Singh. Her repeated barbs at dynastic rule were reserved for Tamil Nadu’s first family. From Karunanidhi to Kanimozhi through Stalin, Azhagiri, Marans, she exhausted the kith and kin.

Amma is not in the best Dravidian oratorial tradition of an Annadurai or a Karunanidhi. She is known for structured statements that should be read for the hits as well as the misses. So the post-poll door to Sonia amma isn’t slammed shut. However, barring the opening sparklers, the rest of the speech is as good as any she delivers on her heli-hopping tour across the 39 constituencies of Tamil Nadu and the one in Puducherry.

Not just the themes, from catch phrases to emphasis it is like a take after retake at a film shoot. To be fair, the star has clearly aged gracefully enough to show off a few grey hair even on hoardings and banners. Unlike her candidate K Sukumar, who looks unrecognisable in person, no patch on his photoshop-enchanced wall pictures. To make matters worse, he has to stand facing the audience with folded hands raised above his head, absolutely frozen through the one and only leader’s hour-long address.

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