As Tamil Nadu sizzles in the heat of elections, actor Mansoor Ali Khan grabbed eyeballs on Saturday as he sat near a garbage bin and petted a street dog to campaign for votes. He is contesting as an independent candidate in Coimbatore’s Thondamuthur constituency and his nomination papers were validated today by the ECI officials.
Speaking to the media, he claimed that leaders and politicians have ruined Tamil Nadu by just making promises and not delivering. The actor has been trying to garner votes by undertaking campaigning alone, unlike other contestants. On Friday, he exercised in Thondamuthur’s Gandhi Park area and participated in a game of volleyball with those who were playing in the ground there. He also walked around and spoke to people who were walking in the park. He also exchanged jokes and took selfies with them. On Saturday, he officially kickstarted his campaign from the Perur Patteeswarar temple and met with the shopkeepers outside the temple.
He then pulled a stunt and went on to sit near a filled garbage bin and inquired about who was responsible to clear garbage in the locality. He then whistled and petted a street dog that was lying down nearby and played with the dog for a few minutes. As people passed by him, he asked about their problems in the area and jotted them down in his notebook, along with their addresses, with the promise of rectifying them if he is elected as an MLA from the locality.
Coimbatore’s Thondamuthur constituency will see a contest between sitting MLA and the state Minister for Municipal Administration SP Velumani of the AIADMK and DMK’s Karthikeya Sivasenapathy.