Rajinikanth will try to fill the huge vacuum in TN politics, which has revolved around larger-than-life figures Annadurai, Karunanidhi, MGR and Jayalalithaa.
Tamil film superstar Rajinikanth has finally laid all speculation to rest. Last week, he had said that he would announce his decision on 31 December, and as promised, he delivered. He will launch his own political party soon, and contest the next Assembly elections.
“Ithu kaalathin kattayam (it is the compulsion of the times),” he said. And in a sort of apology for his protracted indecision over his entry into politics, he said: “If I had not done it now, I would have been wracked by a guilty conscience till my death.”
Rajinikanth also spelt out the rationale for his decision: probity, honesty and integrity in public life, with a dollop of Tamil self-respect also thrown in. “The happenings, events, of the past few months have made every Tamil person lower his head in shame… Politics has really become rotten, and democracy has been devalued,” he said.
With this, Rajinikanth will be trying to fill the huge vacuum in Tamil Nadu politics, which, under the Dravidian parties, has revolved for the last half a century around larger-than-life figures, whether it was C.N. Annadurai, M. Karunanidhi, M.G. Ramachandran or J. Jayalalithaa.
Jayalalithaa’s death in December 2016 has dealt a near-fatal blow to the AIADMK, which is now in the throes of an intense internal power struggle for her legacy. At the other end of the spectrum is the DMK, which is trying to reconcile itself to a future without Karunanidhi, whose extreme ill-health has forced him into virtual retirement, though he has not yet stepped down from his post as the party president. His younger son M.K. Stalin who, after years of apprenticeship, was elevated to the post of working president, has been striving hard to establish his credentials as the true leader and a potential chief minister.
Given the DMK’s strong cadre base, one would have expected Stalin-as-CM to be a pre-concluded outcome in the next assembly elections. But the manner in which his party candidate lost the R.K. Nagar by-election has raised doubts. Already, his estranged brother and former union minister M.K. Azhagiri, is calling for his head.
In this fast-changing political landscape, Rajinikanth seemed to be playing it a bit safe, when he said that he would launch the party before the next assembly elections and that the party would contest all the 234 assembly constituencies.
For one thing, with the assembly election due only in 2021 (or earlier if the AIADMK govt collapses), this will give him time to work on the party organisation. More importantly, that will also give him time to attract hardcore politicos to his party. His fans can form the solid cadre base that any party will require, but it would require the guile/expertise of a seasoned politician to channelise and organise the fan base into a proper party organisation.
Though cinema and politics have had an umbilical connection in Tamil Nadu, not all film stars have been successful. Both Karunanidhi and M.G. Ramachandran had a long stint in politics before they started making an impact. Jayalalithaa had been groomed by MGR. They knew the labyrinthine nature of politics and had solid politicians around them, at least in their initial years. Even if one looks across the Tamil Nadu border, the success of N.T. Rama Rao and his Telugu Desam Party could be attributed, in no small measure, to disgruntled Congress politicians, including his son-in-law Chandrababu Naidu, who flocked to his party.
Rajinikanth’s assertion that his party will contest all seats seems to be an attempt to dispel speculation that his party would be more aligned towards the BJP. This might be primarily directed at a huge section of his fans, which was concerned about his perceived proximity to the BJP. However, his talk of “spirituality in politics” might still confuse some of them.
Back in 1996, he had famously said that “even God cannot save Tamil Nadu if Jayalalithaa comes back to power”, a statement that was exploited by the DMK-Tamil Maanila Congress combine to rout Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK. At that time, Rajini had been egged on by the late journalist and political strategist Cho Ramaswamy.
But, Rajini said Sunday that he could have entered politics in 1996 itself and could possibly have come to power. “I could have done it if I had been hankering for power.”
And then, he went a step further and added in his trademark superhero style: “What I am doing at 67 today, I could have done it at 45 too.”
However, Rajini struck a curious note by asking his fans not to comment on politicians or on major issues of the day. “We have other people to make the comments,” he said, in a reference to his long time friend and fellow actor Kamal Haasan, who had been, till a few weeks ago, feverishly tweeting on every single issue in Tamil Nadu, indicating the possibility of his own entry into politics.
But Rajini’s repeated emphasis on Tamil identity and Tamil Nadu today can be seen as a counter to the attempts being made by some fringe parties and organisations, who have raised his so-called Kannadiga antecedents (he is actually a Marathi who was settled in Bengaluru). Rajini had earlier countered it by stating that he is a “pachchai Thamizhan” (a true-blooded Tamil), as he has been in Tamil Nadu for more than 40 years as opposed to the first 20 years in Bengaluru.
This question had come up earlier also, when at the height of tension between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over Cauvery waters in the mid-2000s, the Tamil film world observed a fast in solidarity with the state’s demands. Rajini did not join the fast, and instead went on a fast a few days later, emphasising the need for a peaceful settlement of the issue between the two states.
Now, with the Kamal-Rajini pair in politics, many will recall the other two greats—MGR and Sivaji Ganesan—who loomed large over the Tamil film industry for three decades from the 1950s to the 1970s. The former was a star with a carefully cultivated screen image, much like what Rajini has done. And Sivaji was the thespian, whose fan following was more based on his histrionic talent. Both of them played significant roles in politics—MGR in DMK and Sivaji in the Congress. But while MGR could seamlessly step into the real life political role, Sivaji could never do that. At best, he could only raise himself to the level of the leader of a small but significant faction within the Congress. His attempts at a political career outside the Congress bombed, and after a brief ill-advised stint as president of the Tamil Nadu unit of V.P. Singh’s Janata Dal, he silently moved out of politics.
Kalyan Arun is a political analyst and journalism educator in Chennai. He tweets at @kalyanarun
Charisma won’t favour Rajini in politics
Superstar might have taken the right decision just to appease his fans. And he is under the impression that charishma which he is enjoying now would favour him in politics too. It’s totally a miscalculation as the present political climate isn’t conducive for him since things have changed for the worse. And relying on his die hard fans alone won’t help him in politics. Rajini ought to have felt the pulse of the people more so the below povertyline families and the so called middle class, who are experiencing untold hardships due to various factors. Farmers issue is at it’s peak sans any solution. Moreover, the present government has earned the wrath of the people of Tamil Nadu for it’s non-functioning.
In this backdrop, the superstar announces his decision to enter politics. I am at a loss to understand what Rajini means by ‘spiritual politics’. This itself has received large scale criticism from various sections of the people. Better for Rajini to scout for a political advisor similar to Cho Ramasamy, who was advisor to Jayalalithaa.