Sivaganga: The Congress had its first high profile leader campaigning in Tamil Nadu on Friday.
Rahul Gandhi sought votes for Home Minister P Chidambaram at his Sivaganga constituency.
While the Sri Lankan Tamils' issue has taken center stage ahead of the polls in Tamil Nadu, Rahul Gandhi reiterated that the rights of Sri Lankan Tamils ought to be protected and that the UPA government is doing its best for this, but he refrained from talking anything on possible post poll alliance with the AIADMK. His comments on that became controversial a few days ago.
"My family has always had a special place for the people of Tamil Nadu," the Congress general secretary said.
PTI adds: P Chidambaram, who hails from the affluent Nattukottai Chettiar community, has won all but one election he has contested since 1984. He lost in 1999 from Sivaganga when he contested as a candidate of the Tamil Manila Congress floated by late G K Moopanar.
The most prominent Tamil face in the UPA has been telling people in this constituency that he has fulfilled his promise of ensuring implementation of flagship schemes like the rural job guarantee programme.
But Jayalalithaa's AIADMK has made his achievements sound trivial by pressing for creation of a separate homeland for Sri Lankan Tamils -- an issue at the heart of a decades-old conflict in the Island nation.