Rajinikanth plans to bring in a welcome change in Tamil Naidu politics and the idea he proposes looks encouraging and inspiring. But as the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating and the voters will be the litmus test of the thalaivaa’s Utopian ideology
The bugle for the 2021 Tamil Nadu (TN) Assembly election was sounded on March 11 by none other than the superstar of Tamil movies Rajinikanth, who is being seen as a rallying point for all non-All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and non-Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) parties in the State. Though Rajinikanth is yet to announce the name or programmes of his yet-to-be-launched political outfit, the promotional teaser he presented before fans and loyalists evoked a positive response from his well-wishers and critics.
When he made his political ambition known on December 31, 2017, there were many who doubted whether the actor was serious. Spiritual politics was something beyond the comprehension of an average Tamilian, who grew up watching the Dravida Maya (the illusion of being part of a make-believe world of Dravidianism) propagated by EV Ramasamy Naicker and CN Annadurai whom the later day politicians described as Thanthai Periyaar and Perariyaar (Tamil for great father and father).
TN is yet to recover from the shock of the demise of Jayalalithaa on December 5, 2016. The vacuum was further aggravated by the departure of M Karunanidhi, the DMK founder in August 2017. Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi were the pillars of State politics and their exit has led to an irreparable loss to both the parties. The truth is that both the AIADMK and the DMK don’t have leaders who could match the stature of Amma (Jayalalithaa’s followers addressed her as mother) and Dr Kalaignar (ultimate artist), as Karunanidhi wanted people to address him. It is at this juncture Rajinikanth is entering the arena. Though another star Kamal Haasan tested the political waters in the State, his Makkal Neethi Meiam party was submerged by the giant tidal waves of the two Dravidian parties in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
“The problem with Kamal Haasan is that he is not clear in his ideology or programmes. One need not be a good orator but should have the capability to make his followers understand what he stands for,” says Sam Rajappa, veteran journalist.
It is to this world of uncertainty that Rajinikanth made an entry with his brand of spiritual politics. He made it clear that professional politicians (numbering more than 50,000 each in the AIADMK and the DMK) would not have any place in his political system. “We will run the Government and the party with a minimum number of people. Party workers are needed only at the time of elections. Once we do away with thousands of party posts across the State, corruption will die a natural death,” says the actor while explaining his party’s ideology. It is a strange coincidence that this has similarities to what was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi (minimum government and maximum governance). Legal luminary Nani Palkhivala used to cite “too much government and too little governance” as the main reasons behind India’s backwardness in his speeches and writings. For the first time in TN’s history, a would-be politician has come out stating that the Chief Minister (CM) and Ministers should be from among the people. Rajinikanth declared that he would not be the CM because he is not cut out for the job. This is something which has gone down well with the people of TN who have seen politics as a dog-eat-dog world where friends turn foes and long-time rivals come together to consolidate power.
People will fall in line when Rajinikanth names the chief ministerial candidate and extend their support to the latter. The party head, who in all probability would be the actor himself, will be the de-facto Leader of Opposition because a committee headed by the former would act as a watchdog to ensure transparency, simplicity and honesty of the Government and governance.
Cynics may say this won’t work in India and will point to the Manmohan Singh-Sonia Gandhi arrangement during the 2004 to 2014 tenure of the UPA Government. Well, it functioned well. Sonia wanted a servile Prime Minister and Manmohan proved to be the right person for the job. But Rajinikanth is no Sonia and he would never opt for a Manmohan.
Rajinikanth also declared that 50 per cent of the party candidates would be people below the age of 50 with sound educational qualifications and the remaining seats would be allocated to professionals and retired bureaucrats. For some, this may sound like an Utopian concept but it is time for a change in the political ecosystem of TN which has been incapacitated by the stale Dravidian ideology.
While conventional politicians expressed their reservations about Rajinikanth’s way of thinking, he found support and encouragement from the most unlikely source. Subramanian Swamy, the BJP leader who has been a critic of the cinema and drama-based politics of TN was the first to extend a hand of cooperation to the actor. “Rajinikanth has come of age and has started thinking differently from conventional politicians. His spiritual politics has imbibed energy from Indian heritage and culture and this will bring TN back to the national mainstream. The spiritual politics he speaks about is nothing but the Hindutva way of life and the State’s future lies in this ideology,” says Swamy who reveals that he does not know what awaits the BJP in the State.
Rajinikanth earned the goodwill of the people when he spoke against the Dravidian ideology of insulting Hindu gods and goddesses. While addressing the Tughlaq magazine’s anniversary recently, he came down heavily on Ramasamy Naicker for garlanding pictures of Lord Rama and Sita with slippers. Naicker, who is portrayed as a revolutionary leader by the Dravidians, stood only for the rights of the intermediate castes. There is no need to look further to find the root cause of the honour killings in TN despite more than 50 years of Dravidian rule. The AIADMK and the DMK share between them 60 per cent of the votes. The remaining 40 per cent is split between fringe groups, including the Congress and the BJP. The Congress which ruled the State till 1967 has become servile to the DMK and the BJP is yet to take root here. Though the Paattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), a political outfit launched by the Vanniyar community, gave hope of a refreshing change with its out-of-the-box ideas, the party is yet to make major inroads. There is no dearth of fringe groups and leaders in TN but they are all riding on the shoulders of the DMK or the AIADMK. Well, Rajinikanth speaks of a welcome change and the idea he proposes looks encouraging and inspiring. But as the saying goes the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Over to the voters!
(The writer is Special Correspondent, The Pioneer)