Bandit's 'Queen' : a greenhorn in a three-way contest

Dharmapuri, Apr 30 (UNI) The shadow of notorious forest brigand Veerappan will be looming large in the May 8 assembly polls in Tamil Nadu with his widow V Muthulakshmi trying her luck at the hustings, espousing the cause of tribals.

Muthulakshmi is contesting for the first time from Pennagaram constituency as an Independent candidate in this tribal-dominated district, part of the infamous Veerappan territory, spread over 6,000 sq km of the Western Ghats.

It was from these difficult hilly terrains that the brigand had posed a great challenge for nearly two decades to the STF, before he was gunned down in October 2004.

Muthulakshmi is no stranger to the people as she was born and brought up at Neruppur village in Pennagaram.

The Bandit's wife will be too happy to be compared to Phoolan Devi. But unlike the real 'Bandit Queen', who went on to become a MP, the 35-year-old Greenhorn preferred to keep a low-profile by living in the shadows of her husband, until he was eliminated.

She decided to take the electoral plunge, causing ripples among the main contestants--K N Periyannan of DMK (a former PMK leader) and S R Vetrivel (AIADMK).

In all, 16 candidates are in the fray in Pennagaram. But it will be a triangular contest between the ruling AIADMK, DMK and Muthulakshmi in this economically-backward constituency, which has an electorate of little over two lakh.

Heading an apolitical outfit, 'Special Task Force affected tribal people's forum,' to protect the rights of dalits, she is training her guns on the STF by highlighting the alleged atrocities committed by the Task Force Personnel on tribals.

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