TVK gained people’s trust in a short period of time: J.C.D. Prabhakar

J.C.D. Prabhakar discusses TVK's rapid trust and influence growth in Thousand Lights during his election campaign.

The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam’s (TVK) candidate for the Thousand Lights constituency, J.C.D. Prabhakar, claims that his party has gained enormous influence and trust among people within a short period of time. Speaking to The Hindu amid his election campaign at Choolaimedu on Thursday, Mr. Prabhakar, a two-time former legislator from the AIADMK shared his views about the TVK, its symbol and issues in Thousand Lights.

Edited Excerpts:

Nearly 46 years ago, former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran gave you the first opportunity to contest from Villivakkam in 1980, and you won. In these four and a half decades, how much has the ground changed?

The enthusiasm and expectations of the people on the ground when Puratchi Thalaivar [MGR] started the AIADMK remains the same... I contested against DMK’s K. Suppu from Villivakkam in 1980 and won with God’s grace. In 2011, I got the opportunity to contest against Perasiriyar [Professor] K. Anbazhagan of the DMK and won that too. Now, in Thousand Lights, the people have a lot of trust in Thalapathy [Vijay]. They believe that only if he comes to power will there be an upliftment in life. So, there is a huge opportunity for me to secure a big victory in Thousand Lights.

Although you were formerly elected from Villivakkam twice, you are new to Thousand Lights. Why did you choose to contest from here?

Yes, Thousand Lights is new to me. But I was given the choice to decide which constituency to contest from. When it came to expressing opinions about selecting constituencies in Chennai, it was decided that Thalapathy [Vijay] would contest from Perambur, our general secretary [‘Bussy’ N. Anand] from T. Nagar, deputy general secretaries [Rajmohan and Arulprakasam] from Egmore and Saidapet, and Aadhav Arjuna from Villivakkam. Our leader wished that I contested from Thousand Lights. I agreed with his decision. This is not an unconquerable or an undefeatable constituency. Even though the DMK has won from here many times, the people’s expectation is for our leader to emerge victorious. People want a change. They are of the firm opinion that he is the one who is going to provide that change. This is something I realise when I go for door-to-door campaigns. My chances of victory here are bright.