Sambar politics!

It was in 1996 when the Tamil Nadu superstar Rajinikanth made his first political manoeuvre, raising hopes among his millions of fans of their ‘Thailavar’s’ unchallenged entry into Fort St. George, the citadel of power. His comment, “Tamil Nadu cannot be saved even by God if Jayalalithaa is voted back to power,” saw the defeat of AIADMK. Succeeding in the defeat of Jaya’s government might have proved his then power but has not established his ability to win an electoral battle.

Rajini has been non-committal and slippery of entering an electoral politics for 24 long years. However, he has successfully kept the hopes of his fans alive by classically keeping all of his fans in a status of animated suspension during these intervening years. The paper tiger, the political face of Rajini, comes alive normally before the polls, or always before the release of one of his high-budget blockbuster films, to fade away soon after.

Comparatively, the other Superstar, Kamal’s entry with his ‘Makkal Needhi Mayyam’ is reflective of the hare and tortoise race, Kamal being the winning tortoise. His party has secured visibility in some pockets of TN, enough to sustain him and his fans. Rajini’s fans and the office bearers have started to desert him in recent years, due to fatigue from decades of wait, causing a worry in the Superstar’s camp. It had become a do or die situation, and Rajini had to take a plunge of forming a political party, which he announced will be declared on the 31st December 2020.

Jayalalithaa’s untimely death in 2016 and Karunanidhi’s passing away in 2018 have caused a political void and has churned the political scenario of Tamil Nadu. JJ had wielded power like no one else when even her cabinet colleagues had difficulty in seeking an appointment with her. Sasikala, her friend and lady Friday, became a dominant figure until she was sent to jail on charges of amassing disproportionate wealth.
Karunanidhi, until his last days, though immobile, still ruled his party and family property, the DMK with an iron grip until his death. The deaths of the two chiefs resulted in fierce political battles. MK Alagiri, the elder son of Karunanidhi, was sidelined from DMK, while Stalin became its leader and Kanimozhi tailing him around. Similarly, Palanisami grabbed the power, and Panneerselvam meekly surrendered and became his deputy.

Rajini’s age, he is 69, is not helpful for any new venture. His health, he underwent a renal transplant, is another deep concern. Thirdly, he has managed to keep the Tamils in his characteristic style of confusion by announcing that, “We shall change everything,’ but with a rider that his party’s ideals will be “spiritual.’ Tamil Nadu is a strange place, filled with politicians of various degrees of atheism.

No state may have so many castes dominated parties, the present AIADMK CM E Palanisami from the Gounder community, his deputy Pannesselvam representing the Thevars, Ramadoss leading the Vanniyars and the SC/ST by Thirumavalavan with his Viduthalai Chirutaigal Katchi. The minority upper castes are mostly confined in BJP. The minorities, Congress and the left have partnered with DMK.

Rajini has no chance if his party stands alone to fight the election. There was one Vijaykanth, who too had floated a party and garnered 8% of the votes, but not winning a single seat. No smaller party would align with Rajini as most of them are with either of the Major Dravida parties, AIADMK or DMK.

I guess, Rajini may not fight elections at all, but merely throw his weight in support of the BJP candidates and satisfy his fans as part of the ‘kingmaker’ party. The combination of AIADMK, PMK, Rajini, BJP and Alagiri (if) is the only possibility of dislodging DMK’s momentum, which, as on today, has a better chance to win. All eyes are on Sasikala, but her application for an early release from prison has been rejected recently. She will arrive in Tamil Nadu to churn the sambar in January 2021!

Until then, Tamil Nadu would love to thrive in the confusion of the ‘Thalaivar.’

Sampath Kumar

Intrépide Voix