Vidhya Rani, the daughter of one of India’s most notorious criminals, Veerappan decided to contest for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from the Krishnagiri constituency in Tamil Nadu. The Naam Tamilar Katchi candidate said that she draws inspiration from her father and that she would want to work for the betterment of the farmers and women.
“I have been given a chance by the party to serve the people of India where I am going to speak for the people of Krishnagiri. My focus would be to work for the betterment of farmers and to empower women. I will be there for the people as their spokesperson,” Rani said while speaking to ANI on 9th April.
#WATCH | Tamil Nadu: Naam Tamilar Katchi candidate from the Krishnagiri LS seat, Vidhya Rani- daughter of Veerappan, says "I have been given a chance by the party to serve the people of India where I am going to speak for the people of Krishnagiri…My focus would be to work for… pic.twitter.com/yPR5pLUvQ9
— ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2024
“I want to attend to the needs of women and make them economically independent. I will be there as a spokesperson for the people and the public. When I am asked to support any of the parties, I will mostly follow the needs of the people. I will support any party that supports the wellness and growth of the people. If it is against the wellness of the people, I will be against it, be it any party,” she added.
The NTK, a Tamilian party founded in 2010 in response to the Sri Lankan Civil War (1983–2009), has yet to win a single seat in a state or Lok Sabha election. The party, which made its debut in the 2016 assembly elections, received 1.06 percent of the vote that year, rising to 6.89 percent in 2021.
Vidhya Veerappan, the 33-year-old woman who is a lawyer by profession says that she wants to work to protect the Tamil race just like her father worked to “protect” the forests. Notably, Vidhya joined the BJP in the year 2020, however, she said that she made the shift to the NKT party after watching ‘Koose Munisamy Veerappan’, a television series about her father.
She said that her admiration for Seeman, the chief of NKT went up multifold after hearing his perspective on her father in the documentary. “Seeman uncle could distinguish between the right and wrong things of my father. I see a lot of similarities between my father and Seeman. That adds strength to me. I was raised by society, not by my family. I believe contesting elections is one way of giving back to society,” she said.
As per the reports, Vidhya in her entire lifetime met her father just once when she was in the 3rd standard. “That was the first and last time I met him. We spoke for 30 minutes, and the conversation is still fresh in my mind. He held me and asked me to pursue medicine and serve the people,” she said.
The woman at present runs a school in Krishnagiri, the place where she has been living for the past 9 years.
Vidhya, who will face Congress candidate K Gopinath, C Narasimhan (BJP), and V Jayaprakash (AIADMK) in the April 19 Lok Sabha elections, said her campaign promises would include pushing for a railway station in Krishnagiri, better health facilities, and ensuring basic amenities for hilly residents.
Veerappan, who was killed by the Tamil Nadu Special Task Force (STF) in an encounter on October 18, 2004, was notorious for poaching elephants, smuggling sandalwood, kidnapping high-profile figures such as Kannada Thespian Raj Kumar and former minister Nagappa, and murdering police officers and others who crossed his path.
The bandit controlled an empire within the Sathyamangalam jungles, which stretched across the districts of Erode and Mysore in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, respectively.
26 candidates have filed papers for the Krishnagiri parliamentary constituency. The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Congress are running together for the seat. Congress has named three-time Hosur MLA K Gopinath as their alliance candidate.
The AIADMK candidate, the BJP’s NDA candidate, and 23 independents are among those competing for positions in Krishnagiri. All 39 seats in Tamil Nadu will vote in a single phase on April 19, with votes counted on June 4.
