Sri Lanka intrudes on last round

Tamil Nadu went to the polls on Wednesday as India completed the final stage of voting in its national elections.

With 39 seats in the country’s 543-seat lower house of parliament, Tamil Nadu is expected to be an important swing state.

The killing of thousands of ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka, only 18km away across the Palk Strait, has become an emotive issue for the electorate in the state.

“Sri Lanka will harbour some importance in the election,” said Sashi Tharan, lolling in the sweltering heat of his travel shop in Chennai, once known as Madras. “Of course, we are caring for our fellow people.”

Tamil Nadu was one of the last states in India to vote in the general election. It was a swing state in the 2004 poll when the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, a Congress ally, swept to power.

State politicians have seized on the war in Sri Lanka, where the government is crushing a 25-year uprising by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

J. Jayalalitha, Tamil Nadu’s opposition leader, has argued that India should send troops to the country to establish an independent state for Tamils if they are not granted some autonomy by the majority Sinhalese government.

M. Karunanidhi, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, went on hunger strike in sympathy with Tamils in Sri Lanka. He called the strike off, having only missed breakfast, when the Sri Lankan government in Colombo released a conciliatory statement.

But people familiar with Tamil Nadu politics said Sri Lanka was not an issue that would decide who won the state.

“It’s good for upping the rhetoric at public meetings but, beyond that, it’s not going to overrule basic electoral issues,” said K.P. Sunil, vice-president of news at Jaya TV, which is seen as close to Ms Jayalalitha’s All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party.

In rural areas, issues such as electricity shortages are more important. Gifts are also popular. An advertisement on the front of the local English-language newspaper, The Hindu, shows the 84-year-old Mr Karunanidhi offering voters a wish-list of goods, including free colour television sets and gas stoves.

Mr Sunil’s analysis is borne out on the streets of Chennai.

While a driver rants that “Sri Lankan soldiers are raping pregnant Tamil women”, Mr Tharan and his friends at the travel shop acknowledge that the war will not decide the election.

“People know that it’s a political play only. No one will take any risks for Sri Lanka. After the election, everyone will forget about it,” Mr Tharan said.