Opinion is divided on whether superstar Rajinikanth should float his own political organisation and align with the BJP or join the Bharatiya Janata Party or cast his lot with an AIADMK faction. Time will tell, but his decision will change the face of Tamil Nadu’s politics
Tamil Nadu is resonating with the discourse on Rajinikanth’s imminent entry into politics. The recent five-day interactive sessions the actor had with fans drawn out from various parts of the State and his speeches ridiculing the “rotten system” in Tamil Nadu are indicators that south India’s reigning superstar may take a plunge into politics — a most dangerous and inhospitable terrain.
One was literally baffled by the content churned out by the 24x7 satellite TV channels once it became clear that Rajinikanth would join politics. Each channel was competing with the other to put on the air the one-liner dialogues delivered by the superstar in some of the films he played lead roles. The channels forgot the fact that the dialogues were penned down by script-writers to suit the character played by the actor. It is not known whether Rajinikanth would be able to deliver such catchy phrases on his own.
Having confirmed that the 66-year-old Rajinikanth is all set to join the political bandwagon, a number of analysts and commentators went to town assessing his course of action. Will he float a new political outfit or join the BJPIJ These are the two questions being discussed by Tamil Nadu-based commentators and analysts. Most of them are unanimous in their observation that he would not join the BJP. They have already spread the news that the BJP was wooing the superstar and pressuring him to cast his lot with the Hindutva forces. “But Rajinikanth would not take such a suicidal step. The day he joins the BJP, he is finished”, said a veteran analyst whose dislike for the BJP is clearly visible between the lines.
More than their view that Rajinikanth would not join the BJP, they are adamant that the superstar should not join the BJP at all. A Congress activist masquerading as a political analyst was heard yelling on a news channel programme that even if Rajinikanth joins politics, he would not have anything to do with the BJP! This is in continuation of the theory floated by commentators in Tamil Nadu that the AIADMK would not have any kind of alliance with the BJP. Their argument to substantiate the claim is that the minorities would never vote for an AIADMK-BJP combine in an election.
That the BJP is a party liked by most Hindus is an open secret. The party can never disown or deny this label. Churches in Tamil Nadu issued a dictum just before the 2016 Assembly election that the laity should never vote for an AIADMK-BJP combine. But many Christian community leaders came out to publicly disown the statement. Their mission was to prove to the outside world that the Church is secular and does not interfere with the way people vote. An excellent example of suppressio veri and suggestio falsi. The little lambs want to colour the Church with a coating of secularism to show to the outside world that the Holy Fathers do not have any interest in politics.
The church and themullahs do not want any political parties in Tamil Nadu to align with the BJP. It is their view. But the claim by commentators that, if a person such as Rajinikanth joins the BJP, his career would be finished, is a far-fetched argument. What about the likes of Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, Hema Malini and Deepika Chikhalia, who joined the BJP and got elected to the lok Sabha with huge mandatesIJ They continued their acting career and retained their fans and popularity in spite of their allegiance to the party.
let Rajinikanth himself decide what he should do in politics. The speeches he delivered make it clear that he would not join the DMK, the Congress, the left, the AIADMK or the PMK. While analysts say that Tamil Nadu’s politics would not be the same once Rajinikanth announces his plan of action, they ignore certain important points. The superstar is 66 and well past his prime. It is not known whether he would be able to undertake State-wide campaign and address hundreds of election meetings, like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah did in the run-up to the 2014 lok Saba election and subsequent Assembly elections. Both Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah have established a rapport with the people of the country. let’s take a close look at other leaders of the BJP. Will it be possible for Rajinikanth to undertake an arduous journey all over Tamil Nadu, explaining to the people the programmes of the BJPIJ
The fans’ associations of Rajinikanth are dormant while the same cannot be said of the other stars such as Ajit, Vijay, Vishal, Soorya and Karti. The fans’ associations of Vijay and Ajit are engaged in a number of social activities. While the young breed of actors are all below the age of 45 and have fan clubs that are full of youth as volunteers, Rajinikanth fans, who turned up for the recent meetings, were above the 50-year age mark.
The BJP in Tamil Nadu, which boasts of less than three per cent votes, is in a state of dormant. It has no leadership worth the name. The present office-bearers who have monopolised Kamalalayam, have proved time and again that they are incapable of taking the party forward. The central leadership should explore the possibility of a faction of the AIADMK merging with the BJP. Rajinikanth would be a good brand ambassador for the new entity. n