What should have been a successful political debut for actor-turned-politician Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar, popularly known as Vijay, now threatens to be his Waterloo moment, depending on how he handles the situation and how his detractors capitalise on the tragedy.
More than forty people, most of them children and women, have died in a stampede that broke out soon after Vijay began his speech at an open ground in Tamil Nadu’s Karur district. The actor is reported to have travelled there after a rally at nearby Namakkal, followed by hundreds of his fans, despite warnings from his personal bodyguards and the police. Initial reports and police sources suggest that the silver screen star had no idea of the gathering and had little control over the surging crowds.
According to media sources and some eyewitnesses, the tragedy unfolded minutes after Vijay got into the raised podium to make a speech. A large section of the mob moved toward the stage to get a closer glimpse of the actor. Some even managed to climb onto the stage only to be pushed back down into the crowd. To add to the trouble, the mob tore down the barricades of the generator set, leading to a cut in the power supply. Meanwhile, an overladen branch of a tree collapsed onto the crowd, crushing hundreds of people under it. Clearly, a handful of rally organisers of Vijay’s political outfit, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), had grossly underestimated the crowd and had no experience in managing so many people.
Stampedes at political rallies, religious congregations, sports events, railway stations, and events attended by famous personalities are not new. It is almost a regular feature. Yet political parties and event managers seem to learn nothing from the past and continue to disregard the rules while organising publicity events.
The inexperienced political leader
Stampede apart, what has gone wrong for the silver screen hero is his immediate reaction to it all. It appears that he was unaware of the magnitude of the tragedy. When he realised that something was amiss, he quickly left the venue, dashed to the nearest airport, and left for Chennai in his private aircraft. Any astute politician would have done exactly the opposite. Vijay should have stayed back, appealed for normalcy and put some of his team members to salvage the situation. But his problem appears to be different.
Notwithstanding a huge fan following, his political outfit, TVK, is just about a year and a half old with a small team, most of whom lack any political experience. While his party had no declared political agenda or alternative programme, in September last year, he announced his ideological alignment with left-of-centre dogma, espousing Ambedkarism, Periyarism, and Marxism while declaring the ruling DMK in the state and the BJP at the centre as his political adversaries.
There is nothing new in Vijay’s political entry or his ideological affinities. The Congress, the DMK, and the AIADMK have all been harping on about social justice and empowerment of the marginalised communities as mere slogans with very little on the ground as a result. The Congress and the Left parties have neither local leadership nor any voter base and are totally dependent on the munificence of their larger poll partner, the DMK.
What has worked for the political success of the DMK and the AIADMK is not ideology, but the charismatic leadership provided by their leaders. The present ruling party head is the first non-actor politician, and the opposition AIADMK too has no superstar leadership. Tamil Nadu politics is witnessing a transition from star power leadership to political leadership. Will Vijay be able to reverse the trend? Two stalwarts of the cinema field, Sivaji Ganesan and Rajinikanth, aborted their political dreams midway.
Vijay is not the first superstar to jump into the political arena riding piggyback on his fan club. Former DMK Chief Ministers, CN Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi, were also from the film world. Then came MG Ramachandran and J. Jayalalitha, who ruled the state for more than half a century, alternating with the DMK’s Karunanidhi. These silver screen personalities had a strong political party to support them. Vijay has neither a strong party nor any experience in handling political issues.
Annamalai’s moment to shine
The Karur stampede tragedy has amplified his inexperience in handling serious situations and in making a mature response. On the other hand, BJP’s former state president and popular leader K Annamalai has emerged as a statesman and earned the respect of even his detractors. Addressing the press after the stampede, he made three important points. He did not put the entire blame on Vijay but advised him to avoid such huge gatherings, especially on weekends. He highlighted the shortcomings on the part of the administration in providing adequate police force and crowd control mechanisms. Above all, he advised the youth and Vjay’s fan club to be more responsible and not to be swayed by the make-believe tinsel world.
The ensuing state assembly elections will witness a contest between experience, political sagacity, and mature leadership. Stardom may help in collecting crowds, but it seldom turns mobs into votes, especially after the TVK leader’s show of poor leadership qualities in Karur and his lack of familiarity with realpolitik.
Seshadri Chari is the former editor of ‘Organiser’. He tweets @seshadrichari. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)