Tamil Nadu’s search for a political savior is continuing and as on Monday it has not yielded any result. Other than MK Stalin, the DMK president, and incumbent Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy, there are no viable choices to lead the State at this juncture.
While Stalin became DMK chief only because of him being the son of Karunanidhi, the former Chief Minister who led the party for almost 50 years, Palaniswamy was elevated to the Chief Minister’s post as a consensus candidate in the AIADMK in 2017. Since then the farmer from Edappadi village in Salem has established himself as the undisputed leader of the party.
Though there are no dearth of chief ministerial candidates in Tamil Nadu, the contenders themselves are not sure of their position. Vijayakanth, who had launched the DMDK in 2006 and introduced himself as Karuppu MGR (Black MGR), Tamil Nadu people are yet to accept him as a leader. The former film actor is not in the best of health and is unlikely to campaign as he is bed ridden for the last one year due to many ailments.
The spiritual politics of Rajnikanth has not reached anywhere though the actor has been speaking about it since 2017. The last one heard of him was a statement in which the matinee idol said that due to medical grounds he may not be able to travel and meet the voters. “Our firm belief is that Rajnikanth would come with his political party. There is enough time for the assembly election and he is likely to make an announcement soon,” said Tamilaruvi Manian, a close associate of the actor.
When asked about the Covid-19 pandemic acting as the spoilsport, Manian said one need not physically travel all over Tamil Nadu for meeting voters. “The digital and visual media are there and we will make use of them.” Said Manian.
Kamal Haassan, another super star, who had launched Makkal Neethi Meiam, a political outfit with Torch as its symbol came a damp squib in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Though he had declared himself as the chief minister candidate of his party, chances are that he may join the DMK front and flash the Torch light for Stalin’s route to the top post,” said Sam Rajappa, veteran commentator.
Anbumani Ramadoss, son of PMK founder S Ramadoss was the chief ministerial candidate of the Vanniyar dominated outfit. Though the Vanniar constitute 25 per cent of the Tamil Nadu population, it would not be sufficient for the realization of Ramadoss’ dreams. Many senior leaders like S Semmalai (AIADMK) and Durai Murugan (DMK) belong to the Vanniyar community. Wherever the community forms a major chunk of the voters, both the DMK and AIADMK field only Vanniyar candidates.
The latest to make his political dreams known is Joseph Vijay, popularly known as Thalapathi. Though he has not openly announced his decision to launch a political career, his new venture “Master” is being labelled as a political movie. The actor plays the role of a college teacher and is seen throwing away the black shirt which his fans interpret as a signal that he was discarding Dravidian politics. The teaser has reportedly earned 24 million likes, according to the producers of the movie. But Vijay, who is yet to make a public speech other than the one-liners scripted by story writers, has to prove to the voters that he is a leader material.
Besides these movie stars, Tamil Nadu politics is agog with names like O Panneerselvam and K A Sengottaiyan (both AIADMK) as strong contenders for the top job.