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Rajinikanth's announcement on his putative political party is interesting and intriguing. The time between his party launch and the TN polls can at best be 5 months. No one has managed to succeed electorally in such a short span.
Rajinikanth's announcement on his putative political party is interesting and intriguing. The time between his party launch and the TN polls can at best be 5 months. No one has managed to succeed electorally in such a short span.
In Tamil Nadu, which is no stranger to film personalities becoming political leaders, the most successful actor-politico is of course MGR. He floated the AIADMK in '72, and in the next election in '77, he was remarkably successful.
But it must be remembered that MGR was an active politico from the late 50s. He was an MLC, and then an MLA. His films were verily his propaganda vehicles. So he was not an overnight victor.
Vijayakanth's DMDK, floated in 2005, contested in all the 234 seats in TN alone in 2006. Though it did make a small impact in terms of total vote share, save for Vijayakanth, none from the DMDK was victorious in that election.
Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam, started in 2018, barely created ripples in the '19 general elections. It is still untested at the State level elections.
The point is starting a party and becoming successful on the back of being a film celebrity, creates a lot of headlines. But winning at the hustings is an altogether different proposition.
The only extraordinary success in terms of launching a party and sweeping to power in less than a year happened in the neighbouring AP. NTR, riding the crest wave of 'Telugu pride', launched his party in March '82, and by Jan '83, he was the CM.
NTR's victory is also credited to his never-say-die campaign where he stormed the nook and cranny of his State in his "Chaitanya Ratham" --- he mainstreamed rath politics to India. That campaign can be a case study on how to reach out to masses with a popular message.
NTR's story is in fact bigger than MGR's political conquests. Of course, MGR's AIADMK went undefeated at the State level as long as he was alive.
Rajini, most importantly his team, would be aware of this popular history. So they would not be under great illusions about winning or sweeping to power in a short time.
Of course, Rajini is still to spell out his party, its policies, its strategy et al. We have no idea about them. But he should be practical in terms of setting his targets.
Getting the party infrastructure ready and right to fight the elections is a tough task. Most importantly it is a long-drawn exercise. But Rajini has, over time, carefully shaped his considerable fans association into a political unit. He has ticked that box.
Popularity and polls may be different. But it is that quintessence that made the Madurai man Vijayakanth win in distant Vridachalam. Caste, family equations, local issues also come into play. Yet, there is a reason why politicos fear, and seek, film stars' power.
Rajini's popularity, despite his age and consistent trolling of his image on social media platforms, has not eroded that much. That is what may be worrying his political rivals at this moment. Him being that 'nuisance factor' in the polls may be the nub here.
If he is in the fray as the B-team of BJP combo, as is being widely alleged, can he eat into the DMK alliance's vote share? Or will he go for an alliance with the BJP or any other party? Will he and Kamal join forces? Will Rajni's entry work against AIADMK?
The answers for these can only be conjectured. But looks like the Rajini factor that the media has been speculating since the mid '90s will be tested politically for the first time. People did not give him much chance when he entered films. But he ended up making history.
Many analysts think the odds are high for him to be so successful in politics. But his fans expect him to pull off the miracles that his screen characters often do.
But one thing about Rajni is he is a man of destiny, whatever that means. n/n.
