TN politics shorn of glamour

For the first time in 50 years, Tamil Nadu has a Chief Minister who is not connected with the film industry. For the first time in five decades, the main political parties are not projecting a chief ministerial candidate from the film industry. No popular actor from the film fraternity has a political party to project himself or herself. In the absence of a charismatic leader or an actor-politician of repute, there appears to be a vacuum, which the minor parties in the state, including the BJP, believe they can fill.

The death of J Jayalalithaa and the failing health of DMK veteran M Karunanidhi have led parties to believe that political equations are fast changing in Tamil Nadu, and that the field has opened up.
The founder of the DMK, 

CN Annadurai, and his successor, Karunanidhi, had moorings in the film industry, having contributed stories and screenplays for many films. MGR and his successor Jayalalithaa were popular actors. VN Janaki, MGR’s wife, who took over as CM for a short period, was a former actress.

Karunanidhi’s son MK Stalin, who is certain to be projected by the DMK in the next polls, and Sasikala, the new general secretary of the ruling AIADMK, have no film links. Vijayakanth, leader of the DMDK and an actor, has fallen by the wayside after a disastrous performance in the 2016 polls. He is also dogged by ill-health.

Rajinikanth, who dabbled in political statements in the late Nineties, has kept away from an active electoral role, though he was prepared to support GK Moopanar and the Tamil Nadu unit of the Congress in the early Nineties but the then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao cold-shouldered him despite Rajinikanth meeting the PM and assuring him of support. He shied away from politics after the 2004 polls.

Actor Vijay has a good network of fans’ associations and has shown inclination towards a political role, but is not part of electoral politics.

On the political front, there is no mass leader in sight who can come anywhere near the cult status of an MGR, Karunanidhi or Jayalalithaa. The Dravidian parties themselves do not possess a mass leader of that standing.

This situation presents an opportunity for the minor parties to make a push for higher stakes. The BJP, flexing its muscle, is trying to piggyback on the image of PM Modi, while the Congress is attempting a comeback but has no strong regional leader. In that sense, a political realignment is likely.

The four-party People’s Welfare Front — comprising Vaiko’s MDMK, the two Left parties and the Dalit organisation, Viduthalai Siruthaigal (Dalit Panthers) — has undergone a split with Vaiko parting ways. His recent statements supporting the attempts to make Sasikala the AIADMK leader, and a recent trip to Delhi to meet Modi, ostensibly to extend support to the demonetization exercise, indicate his intention to play a new role in TN politics.

Leaders like GK Vasan of the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) also believe that politics is in a state of flux, and that the state is looking for a new and credible leadership.

Stalin depends on the well-oiled machinery of the DMK and feels that will be enough for his party to come to power, especially if there is a split in the AIADMK as in 1987-88. 

However, he may not have his wily father around in 2019 to shepherd him to success.

In the absence of a mass leader, and shorn of film glamour, parties could struggle to establish supremacy and, more importantly, win the confidence of the people in an electoral battle. The race for 2019 seems to be wide open.

The author is a senior independent journalist