SALEM: 20 years after dreaded forest brigand Veerappan was killed in a police encounter in Tamil Nadu, his daughter and widow are trying to rewrite his story – from that of a feared outlaw to a defender of Tamil rights – via electoral politics.Veerappan’s elder daughter Vidhyarani, 35, an advocate, is contesting from Mettur constituency as a candidate of Naam Tamilar Katchi, whereas his widow Muthulakshmi is within the fray from Krishnagiri on behalf of Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi. Each the events again ‘Tamil nationalism’.“If my father have been alive in the present day, he would have entered the democratic course of, too,” says Vidhyarani, who’s testing electoral waters for the second time. She had earlier contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Krishnagiri as an NTK candidate, polling over one lakh votes.For Muthulakshmi too, this marks a return to politics after her debut as an impartial candidate within the 2006 meeting elections.Each the ladies have embraced Veerappan’s controversial legacy as an alternative of shying away from it, and search to repaint him. “He was not the dreaded legal he was made out to be. He stood towards exploitation and injustice,” Vidhyarani mentioned at a rally in Mettur, drawing loud cheers, significantly from younger supporters. Her marketing campaign echoes NTK’s core plank of Tamil nationalism.NTK chief Seeman was vocal in his help for Veerappan. “If Prabhakaran (LTTE chief) was the guardian of our race, Veerappan was the guardian of our forests,” he mentioned whereas canvassing for her.Vidhyarani’s political journey started with Pattali Makkal Katchi, which pulls its help from Vanniyars, a numerically sturdy neighborhood unfold throughout greater than a dozen districts in Tamil Nadu. She joined BJP in 2020, earlier than switching to NTK in 2024.In Krishnagiri, Muthulakshmi focuses on agrarian misery in her campaigns. “I’ve lived amongst farmers. My battle is for water, crops and dignity,” she informed TOI.Each keep that they face no hostility as a result of their previous. “Quite the opposite, folks respect us,” Vidhyarani mentioned.Observers consider their entry may dent PMK – an AIADMK ally – significantly within the Vanniyar-dominated Mettur and Krishnagiri belts. Whereas neither candidate foregrounds caste, they’re anticipated to draw a share of the neighborhood votes, that are in any other case anticipated to go for PMK.