It is quick to dismiss the craze amongst sections of young voters of Tamil Nadu to appear up to superstar Rajinikanth to make his foray into the state elections subsequent year, as a outcome of their obsession with cinema given that the days of M G Ramachandran (MGR) and later, J Jayalalithaa, who dominated the scene till their demise.
But it is also mainly because of their disenchantment with the current Dravidian parties, provided their track record in misgovernance and corruption.
The vacuum in the state’s political situation right after the exit of stalwarts, like M Karunanidhi, has also meant that a younger lot of voters is not left with substantially decision when dynastic politics, corruption, and unique shades of political obscurantism have thrived in the name of Tamil pride.
It is an accepted truth that numerous young voters are not enthused by the current lot of players like Karunanidhi’s son and DMK chief M K Stalin, possibly the most fancied to win the subsequent polls.
The anti-incumbency components functioning against the ruling AIADMK dispensation, which is led by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) and his deputy O Panneerselvam (OPS), have forced an uneasy arrangement among factions given that Jayalalithaa’s untimely demise and her aide Sasikala Natarajan’s incarceration following her conviction in a disproportionate assets case becoming upheld by the Supreme Court.
Her jail term is due to finish early subsequent year, ahead of the TN polls due in April-May. She is the aunt of T T V Dhinakaran, who runs a band of really hard-core Sasikala loyalists beneath the banner of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK).
Even as EPS could be observed as creating up for the lost time to shore up on his governance record by enormous doses of largesse to unique sections of voters, the DMK has been attempting to woo young voters by projecting Stalin’s actor-cum-producer son Udayanidhi as the heir-apparent.
The entry of actor Kamal Haasan and his political formation Makkal Nidhi Maiam (MNM) did evoke a lot of interest prior to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In the parliamentary elections, the MNM’s debut did see the fledgling celebration choose up 3.75-3.80 per cent votes.
But the MNM’s political believed course of action, which is a mixture of anti-BJP posturing, social reformist Periyar’s concepts and Left-driven agenda, has so far not precisely set the state on fire— in supplying an option to the voters.
With youths accounting for extra than 50 per cent of Tamil Nadu voters, it is Rajinikanth’s every single word and move that has caught consideration now and then, even even though he has postponed his plans various instances given that he announced he would fight the 2021 elections way back in December 2017. So substantially so, Rajinikanth’s Hamletian dilemma had an exasperated BJP ultimately seeing merit in shaking hands with a divided AIADMK, rather than wait for the superstar to supply the fulcrum for creation of a third front to supply an option to the Dravidian parties.
When Union Home Minister Amit Shah went to Chennai on November 21 to meet BJP cadres to talk about their campaign approaches for the elections, EPS and OPS stated to have pre-empted Shah from charting an independent course for TN BJP. They unilaterally announced the “continuation” of an “old” alliance among the BJP and the AIADMK, days right after each parties appeared to be at loggerheads at the state-level. It is no secret that the survival of the AIADMK regime has been largely contingent on the Centre’s friendly view towards it.
It is also no secret that the BJP has been wooing Rajinikanth assiduously for some months to take the plunge to avoid the DMK from sweeping the assembly polls, particularly right after its alliance performed outstandingly in the Lok Sabha elections, winning 38 of the 39 seats from Tamil Nadu.
It is this context that Rajinikanth’s physical exercise of asking his outfit Rajini Makkal Mandram and its district secretaries and workplace-bearers if they had been prepared to “start a political party in January” at a meeting in Chennai on November 30 has drawn substantially traction.
His announcement later that he would take a choice quickly came against the backdrop of physicians advising him against getting into politics in view of his wellness situation and the prevailing pandemic predicament. The 69-year-old superstar of Tamil cinema was apparently told by his officials that he would have a very good opportunity of winning if he began his political journey as quickly as doable.
Significantly, only a month ago, Rajinikanth had stated that he had been advised against getting into politics by physicians as he had undergone a kidney transplant in 2016 and due to the coronavirus pandemic. This disclosure of his wellness status indicated he was prepared to miss the bus once more even though he had set up the Rajini Makkal Mandram as a ‘launch vehicle’ to float his political celebration ahead of the 2021 elections.
But, as his deliberations at Chennai’s Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam showed on November 30, Rajnikanth knows that he will not get a further window once more to launch his celebration. He can nevertheless play the function that his political buddies as nicely as his fans want him to play by relying on contemporary technologies for his campaign without the need of undertaking strenuous tours to project his brand of “spiritual politics.”
Rajinikanth’s popular lines of December 2017 nevertheless echo amongst the young fans who recall his words. He had stated, “I will enter politics and launch a party to serve the people of Tamil Nadu, as the (political) system in Tamil Nadu has been ruined.”
Of course, this depends on Rajinikanth’s capability to recreate the magic of 1996. At that time, his punchline was that “even God can not save Tamil Nadu” if the AIADMK comes back to energy. His clarion contact resulted in Jayalalitha’s humiliating defeat. The DMK-Tamil Maanila Congress alliance swept to energy, thanks to him.
This time, his political buddies, especially the BJP, would want Rajinikanth to make the foray, if not to win the elections, then to at least avoid the DMK and its allies from sweeping the elections.
The writer is a former Senior Associate Editor of Hindustan Times and Political Editor of Deccan Herald, New Delhi