At last , Rajinikanth, the superstar of the south Indian film industry, is into politics. At Chennai, while announcing his decision to form a new party to the frenzied cheering supporters Rajinikanth distinctly made clear that his new party would be a spiritually founded one.This is diametrically opposite to the tenet of the Dravidian parties which more that half of a century were in power in Tamil Nadu. In his speech he quoted Bhagavat Gita as well .It sounded like a well thought out strategy to mark the turn around in the trajectory of the Tamil Nadu politics and cast a new iconic image for himself. While referring to the Gita he was trying to indirectly kindle and identify himself with the Lord Krishna image of the Gita. It was axiomatic in the responses of some of his close friends who welcomed his entry into politics. Those friends are believed to be behind him to form the think tank and brainstorming for him.
In his brief but matter of fact speech Rajinikanth elaborately dwelled on the plight of the Tamil politics of the present times and the state of affairs of the state in general. He said that if he did not heed the call of the hour he would be failing in his duties, intelligently reminding the verses of the Lord Krishna in the Gita that whenever the Dharma undergoes degeneration I would incarnate myself. Though he was addressing the legion of his fans as a film star never did he utter anything that reminds his movie image. Like the iconic image he cultivated and retained in the movies by the selection of heroic roles he essayed, in politics also he is trying to sculptor an iconic image of savior of dharma and people . He also reiterated the fact that his politics would not be based on accusing or blaming others, which is the order of the day, but focusing on doing what is supposed to perform. There also he is indirectly invoking the mood of the Gita to get associated himself with the image of the Lord Krishna.
But the recent by- election to the Tamil Nadu assembly from RK Nagar also proclaims certain characteristics of the Tamil electorate in general. T T V Dinkaran, representing the left out faction of the AIADMK, whose leader Sasikala undergoing imprisonment in the corruption case in Parappana agrahara prison in Bangaluru, won from the constituency by a margin of more than forty thousand votes which is more than thousand votes than Jayalalitha could secure. The pattern of character got expressed in the victory of Dinakaran, and the motivating factor that made the supporters of Rajinikanth gather on the morning of December 31st in Chennai is same. Purely emotional , not at all driven by any iota of reason or any democractic values. In terms of the technical interpretation of democracy the thumping victory to Dinakaran was the endorsement of blatant corruption and the mafia kind of politics by the electorate, whatsoever is ascribed to the cause of the victory.
While committing himself to high ideological grounds Rajini fails to spell out as to how he is going to roll out his political plans to transform the supporter's mindset which is driven by emotional blindness that allows all kinds evils to burgeon in democracy. Until and unless that aspect is addressed all efforts to bring in a qualitative change in Tamil Nadu politics would be in vein. Only leaders who have a great vision and mission and having the wisdom to play out dialectics in Tamail Nadu politics can bring in some measurable changes. However, how low the level of politics in Tamil Nadu, in terms of culture that state still holds the premium position among all other states in the country .Even in the abominable level of political degeneration, as a race Tamilians still have a kind of dignity and pride in their culture which is predominantly dominated by the culture of Temples. During over more than half a century under the Dravidian parties the Tamilians caught themselves in a kind of internal conflicts due to the inability turn their face totally against strong tradition and at the same time the atheist ideology propagated by the Dravidian parties. Finally the rank and file found god like figures in their leaders themselves and started worshiping them. Emotional honesty of the race also played a key role in it. This was first brilliantly exploited by non other than the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M G Ramachandran. All others were since then following the same path and that culminated in the present times degradation of politics in the state.
Now, Rajinikanth is also moving through the same sledge . He declares unambiguously that his aim is to become the chief minister of Tamil Nadu to deliver a model administration. To corroborate his ideological stand he says that in the event of failure to deliver what he promised he would step down after three years. This statement itself speaks of loudly about his political ignorance .All these constitute simple strategies to win over the electorate in Tamil Nadu in which Rajini may come out successfully unlike others like Vijay Kanth or Chiranjeevi in Andhrapradesh. Cinema also should form part of politics but when it becomes otherwise the causality is, no doubt, politics. And Tamil Nadu stands living testimony to that inexorable reality with no signs of change in the sight.
