Will Superstar’s foray into politics make a dent
in established parties such as the AIADMK and the DMK? Will his huge fan base
be able to take on the organised cadres of these parties?
Colonel R Hariharan | India Legal | January 7, 2018
The two-decade long wait of
thousands of fans of Tamil cinema’s superstar Rajinikanth ended on New Year eve
when he announced his entry into politics is certain. To the roaring approval
of thousands of fans attending the six-day interaction with the Thalaiva (as
they lovingly call him), he added, “I will form my own political party and
contest from all 234 seats in the next assembly election.”
As the news spread, Tamil Nadu’s
political parties went into a tizzy. They have strong reasons to worry - many
of their youthful party cadre were also members of Rajini fan clubs across the
state. Responding to their Thalaiva’s call, there is a fear that they may shed
their party affiliations to join his party.
Officially, there were 50,000 registered
Rajini fan clubs in the state in 1995-96, when registration was stopped. Incidentally,
there is a fan club in far-off Tokyo! According to a media estimate, now there are
80,000 fan clubs in all. In his speech, Rajinikanth said “I have several
thousand fan clubs, in villages and cities all across the state. The
unregistered ones are twice as many.” Rajinikanth said that uniting them all
would be the first task. Moreover, there are thousands of fans in all age
groups outside the fan clubs also. It is these formidable numbers that worries
the political parties.
TIMING IT RIGHT
Rajini’s entry could not have
come at a more inconvenient time for political leaders as Tamil Nadu politics
is in disarray. The ruling AIADMK’s EPS-OPS leadership is locked in a power
struggle with the challenger TTV Dhinakaran, after his resounding victory in
the RK Nagar by-election. Soon after his victory, he has vowed to “sort out”
the present AIADMK leadership. He is the
visible face of the Mannargudi ‘gang” of Sasikala, which provided the muscle
for the late chief minister Jayalalitha to rule the party with an iron
fist. Thus leadership shake-up in the
AIADMK looks imminent.
The DMK, cut down to size in the
RK Nagar polls, is sulking, while other smaller players, who piggy back on one
of the two dominant Dravidian parties are in a tailspin. All the political
parties, barring TTV Dhinakaaran faction, are certain that the RK Nagar election
has institutionalized corruption in the state.
In this murky political scenario
of sleaze and corruption, governance has taken a nosedive. Tamil Nadu, once
considered one of the most advanced state, is now a dismal 14th in national
ranking. So, common man is able to identify himself with Rajinikanth when he
said “the last year events in the state politics have shamed people of Tamil
Nadu. The government has to be changed, system has to be changed.” He was
humble enough to acknowledge that it would not be easy to do this and appealed
for trust and support from the people.
Other leaders have either
welcomed the superstar’s decision to enter politics or been cautious depending
on the shade of their party colours, ranging from saffron, blue, red and green.
The AIADMK predicted Rajini would fail in his new avatar, while TTV Dhinakaran and
the DMK welcomed the move. The Congress expressed doubts about his ability to succeed
without the organisational backing of an established political party.
SAFFRON LEADER?
Ultra-Dravidian fringe leaders
sporting black shirts, picked on Rajinikanth for opening his speech with a
quote from Bhagavad Gita to brand him a saffron leader. However, Rajinikanth
has made it clear he would not join any political party. Though BJP is not sure
of Rajini’s support, the party’s state chief Tamilisai Soundararajan praised
him for his aim to eradicate corruption in Tamil Nadu, as it resonates with the
call of the BJP in the state. Caste-based parties of the state had always
opposed film actors’ entry into politics, so it was no surprise they suspected
BJP hand in Rajini’s decision. The irrepressible Subramanian Swamy of BJP did
not disappoint – he called Rajinikanth an illiterate. He said, “What will he
tell us? Rajini is an uneducated man.” The MP called Rajini’s entry into
politics a joke.
Tamil Nadu is no stranger to
actors morphing into political leaders. In fact, the Dravidian parties have had
close umbilical links with film industry. So Swamy’s argument that Rajini as an
actor would not be able to fit in the political mould is untenable. Three
powerful chief ministers of the state had film industry background - DMK leader
M Karunanidhi was a well-known script-writer, MG Ramchandran, the AIADMK
founder and his favourite heroine Jayalalitha too had made their mark first in
movies. All of them had a strong grooming in politics before they became CMs. The
only exception was Vijayakanth, another popular cinema star, who started his
own party with the support of his fans. He did fairly well initially, but seems
to have been sidelined now.
Rajinikanth’s challenge will be
to transform his loosely organized fan clubs and supporters into a coherent,
disciplined political party with motivated leaders at the grass root level.
Then only he can take on both the DMK and AIADMK, which are strong cadre based
parties.
SOME MINUSES
He is hobbled by his background
as a non-Tamilian from Karnataka. In the state where Tamil nationalism is on
the upswing, it will be an uphill task for him. The second handicap is that he
speaks of spiritual politics, nationalism and corruption-free rule amidst
people who have long been exposed to Dravidian discourses about atheism and
open hostility to Hindu religious traditions. It is fashionable for leaders of
the state to portray New Delhi as the villain out to suppress the Tamils. Considering
his spiritual grounding – he was groomed in the Ramakrishna Math and he is a
follower of Raghavendra Swamiji, a well-known Vaishnav saint, his politics may
well turn out to be a green-field experiment in a not-so-friendly political
environment.
At 67, Rajinikanth has another
movie phenomenon to contend with - Kamala Haasan – who too has been wearing the
Dravidian symbol of black shirt, saying he will enter politics.
Can Rajinikanth succeed? He is
probably able to relate with the audience better than anyone else. He has
charisma and that is what led to the fairy tale transformation of Shivaji Rao
Gaekwad, a bus conductor from Bangaluru into Rajinikanth. In 2007, he was
touted as the highest paid film star in Asia when he was paid Rs 27 crores for Sivaji.
As he has called for “political revolution” in Tamil Nadu, it waits to be
seen if Thalaiva can bring about a change. He has given himself three years for
the task. Will the reel life hero morph into a real life one?
The writer is
associated with the Chennai Centre for China Studies and International Law and
Strategic Studies Institute. E-mail: haridirect@gmail.com Blog: http://col.hariharan.info
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