In its latest election gimmick, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is now using an old video clip of its ideological nemesis — the late Dravidian stalwart and former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi – to seek votes for its own candidates in the Dravidian fortress of Tamil Nadu. 

In the video, which was posted on BJP’s social media platforms on Wednesday, April 17, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) veteran can be seen calling upon people to “go from house to house, ask for votes, walk from street to street, area to area, and place to place,” because the election is nearing. “Save Tamil Nadu, save Indian democracy, yenave (hence…),” Karunanidhi says in the video, only to be abruptly cut off and be replaced by BJP’s lotus symbol, with a voiceover asking people to vote for the BJP. The video was posted with the caption, “Think and vote.”

The campaign was met with backlash from a section of internet users, one of whom, X user @mallaisakthi, wrote, “You need our leader to even ask us to vote for you…So, the BJP will always be a foreign party to Tamil Nadu…” Another user @solugiri said, “Mmm.. Even the BJP is scared to use Modi’s face for asking votes. That is Tamil Nadu.” 

 Another X user @tamilsaravnaa said, “Till the very end, you are not able to ask for votes by stating your achievements. Poor you.” 

Wednesday, April 18, marks the last day of campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu as the state will be voting on Friday in one phase. The results will be announced on June 4, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said.