For people fed on a diet of door delivered election time inducements as was witnessed in the December 21 RK Nagar Assembly by-elections in Chennai, actor Rajinikanth’s announcement on Sunday to launch a political party in due course would not be easy to digest. Rajini harped on probity but is the man on the street interested in giving up easy money?
According to Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, expelled AIADMK leader T T V Dhinakaran used the hawala route to pump funds into RK Nagar and get elected. Dhinakaran also liberally distributed new serial Rs 20 notes as tokens to voters promising to exchange them for higher denominations up to Rs 10,000 after victory, the chief minister alleged, saying it smacked of a criminal mindset.
Dhinakaran spread the goodies so widely and evenly in April that he could be easily mistaken for a Santa come in early. He carpet bombed the constituency ‘touching’ every voter irrespective of party affiliation and made them happy, the primary reason why the bypoll was countermanded at that point in time. In November last, he and the clan headed by the jailed V K Sasikala, were sought to be painted as the face of black money in Tamil Nadu after mega Income Tax raids on over 187 premises by over 1,800 personnel. Yet, the voters didn’t seem to mind.
Rajini surely had the likes of Dhinakaran on his mind when he finally made the big announcement about his political entry. He hit out at politics of the day, saying it had totally degenerated and left democracy battered. “The political climate in Tamil Nadu has made us hang our heads in shame,” he added.
The superstar harped on totally changing the system and ushering in spiritual politics irrespective of caste, creed or religion. To achieve his goal, he sought volunteers, not just fans, who would check pilferage of government services to the common man. “I want volunteers who will keep vigil and who will not go to any officials, ministers or MPs, or MLAs for selfish needs.”
That sounded a little like anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal, who in the initial flush of capturing power in Delhi had asked people to sting corrupt government officials. Kejriwal at least had an army of volunteers when he made the appeal; right now Rajini has none.
Rajini’s first brush with politics came in 1996 when he supported the breakaway Tamil Maanila Congress after the parent Congress forged an alliance with AIADMK. TMC leader G K Moopanar went with DMK and an image of Rajini on a bicycle from his film Annamalai as the prop. The TMC-DMK alliance won and the phenomenon of Rajini, the game-changer, was born. But at that point in time he had a worthy adversary in J Jayalalithaa.
So, who will his enemy be this time around? Apart from the two Dravidian majors, the State has a whole spectrum of parties from the Left to the Right. And fellow actor Kamal Haasan could enter the frame. There is already some disquiet among his fans about his soft corner for BJP though BJP member of Rajya Sabha Subramanian Swamy called him an illiterate with no clear agenda to fight corruption. “Let him announce political party name and candidates and then I will expose him,” Subramanian Swamy said.
Then there is the son of the soil question. Born as Shivaji Rao Gaekwad in a Maratha family in Karnataka, Rajinikanth made Chennai his home. But vocal sections in Tamil Nadu who are hyper sensitive about protecting their language and culture, insist their leaders ought to be Tamilians as well.
Rajini sought to address that constituency some months ago saying he had spent a major part of his life - 44 years - in Tamil Nadu.
He also traced his roots to an ancestor in Krishnagiri district in Tamil Nadu and in May last claimed he was a Pachchai Tamilan (true Tamilan). Would people buy it anybody’s guess. Rajini said he will float a party that would contest all the 234 Assembly seats in the State. For that he needs to find as many candidates with a clean image. How and where he will find them from within his fans club, which itself is split on factional lines? In Tiruchy for instance, there are at least four outfits that claim to be the Rajini fans club.
Finally, will he end up as N T Ramarao who captured power in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh in his first shot or a Chiranjeevi whose star power didn’t work in politics? Will he at least do better than Vijayakant? Time alone can tell.
Suresh Sundaram
Deputy Resident Editor, Tamil Nadu
Email: ssuresh@newindianexpress.com