BOOZE, BIRIYANI & MONEY NOT ENOUGH TO BRING IN CROWDS
With The Charm Of Leaders Gone, Mobilizing Crowds Has Become A Tough Ask For Politicos
Shanmughasundaram J & D Govardan TNN
At the recent MGR centenary meeting on September 30 at Nandanam, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami boasted that 10 lakh people had assembled at the venue. But in reality, the venue, the YMCA ground can accommodate only 35,000 chairs. And not all were occupied that evening.
On September 5, a ‘silent rally’ organized by dissident DMK leader M K Alagiri attracted less than 20,000 people, as against the targeted one lakh. Mobilizing crowds have become a tough task for political parties and their generals. Even if some succeed, they are unable to retain them at the venue, when needed, since they are ‘assembled’ and are not ‘volunteers’, as in the past.
The trend of assembling crowds began during the 1991-96 AIADMK regime under J Jayalalithaa, who frequented districts for distributing welfare aid to people. “In their eagerness to show their might, the ministers, who also doubled up as district secretaries, lured people with money. And there was no looking back, with the DMK forced to follow,” says a political observer.
As the optics of crowds became synonymous with the popularity of the leader, it became essential to keep up the show. Now, money is key to bringing in people. The audience is, therefore ‘assembled’, by luring men, women and college students with incentives like money, food and liquor.
This was not the case in the 1970s and 1980s, when announcements used to be made on ‘cone’ speakers about ‘Puratchi Thalaivar’ MGR being on his way and crowds would instantly gather and wait patiently for a glimpse of the matinee idol. MGR would finally arrive well past midnight. But it didn’t matter to the crowd, which would go into raptures on seeing MGR’s convoy.
In the yesteryears, Dravidian historian ‘Sangoli’ K Thirunavukarasu, recalls how the party workers and the public used to gather and wait for hours to listen to speeches of leaders like Periyar, Anna and Kamarajar. “Passersby too would stand and listen to eminent leaders. The followers were attracted to the ideology of respective political parties. But, things have changed a lot,” he added.
But gone are the days when people would cycle long distances or board trucks to travel miles to listen to political leaders. Now partyworkers too are reluctant to attend political functions. “Nowadays, even the biggest political events do not attract more than 25,000 or 35,000 people,” says the political observer. “With 24X7 live news channels, even partymen prefer to watch their leader’s address on television. While speeches have become listless, it is used more to attack opponents,” he added.
“It all depends on money,” says Sarathy, a postgraduate student who has been mobilizing students from several city colleges for political events of several parties. “If the meeting or rally ends within a couple of hours, the cost is ₹600. It will go up if the duration and distance of travel is longer,” said the youth who got 92 students to Alagiri’s rally.
But money does not always guarantee numbers, as commercial taxes minister K C Veeramani realized while organizing a public meeting for deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam at Vellore. “Despite spending crores, there were hardly a few hundreds at the venue,” said an AMMK office bearer, who agreed that they paid ₹150 per person to attend an earlier T T V Dhinakaran meeting in the same town.
“It is becoming tougher to mobilize people, even if one is willing to spend money,” says a former AIADMK minister from north Tamil Nadu. “When Amma was there, people used to come from 20km to 30km away for the money and to see her. In her absence, it has become difficult to mobilize crowds,” he said. “While some AIADMK workers are still enthusiastic to participate, in the DMK only a few core members attend meetings these days,” he added.
“Distributing money is not a good practice. Political leaders should dissuade their functionaries from luring people with money to show their strength,” says historian Thirunavukarasu. But that’s easier said than done, feel some. Hinting at a possible change in trend, C Gnansekaran, AMMK’s Vellore district secretary says, “We should opt for television debates among political leaders and candidates as it happens in some countries like the UK.”
PEOPLE POWER: (Above) People at the MGR Centenary celebrations in Coimbatore; (below) empty chairs are a common feature at public meetings; (right) leaders like MGR, known for his charm and oratory, would attract large crowds
With The Charm Of Leaders Gone, Mobilizing Crowds Has Become A Tough Ask For Politicos
Shanmughasundaram J & D Govardan TNN
At the recent MGR centenary meeting on September 30 at Nandanam, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami boasted that 10 lakh people had assembled at the venue. But in reality, the venue, the YMCA ground can accommodate only 35,000 chairs. And not all were occupied that evening.
On September 5, a ‘silent rally’ organized by dissident DMK leader M K Alagiri attracted less than 20,000 people, as against the targeted one lakh. Mobilizing crowds have become a tough task for political parties and their generals. Even if some succeed, they are unable to retain them at the venue, when needed, since they are ‘assembled’ and are not ‘volunteers’, as in the past.
The trend of assembling crowds began during the 1991-96 AIADMK regime under J Jayalalithaa, who frequented districts for distributing welfare aid to people. “In their eagerness to show their might, the ministers, who also doubled up as district secretaries, lured people with money. And there was no looking back, with the DMK forced to follow,” says a political observer.
As the optics of crowds became synonymous with the popularity of the leader, it became essential to keep up the show. Now, money is key to bringing in people. The audience is, therefore ‘assembled’, by luring men, women and college students with incentives like money, food and liquor.
This was not the case in the 1970s and 1980s, when announcements used to be made on ‘cone’ speakers about ‘Puratchi Thalaivar’ MGR being on his way and crowds would instantly gather and wait patiently for a glimpse of the matinee idol. MGR would finally arrive well past midnight. But it didn’t matter to the crowd, which would go into raptures on seeing MGR’s convoy.
In the yesteryears, Dravidian historian ‘Sangoli’ K Thirunavukarasu, recalls how the party workers and the public used to gather and wait for hours to listen to speeches of leaders like Periyar, Anna and Kamarajar. “Passersby too would stand and listen to eminent leaders. The followers were attracted to the ideology of respective political parties. But, things have changed a lot,” he added.
But gone are the days when people would cycle long distances or board trucks to travel miles to listen to political leaders. Now partyworkers too are reluctant to attend political functions. “Nowadays, even the biggest political events do not attract more than 25,000 or 35,000 people,” says the political observer. “With 24X7 live news channels, even partymen prefer to watch their leader’s address on television. While speeches have become listless, it is used more to attack opponents,” he added.
“It all depends on money,” says Sarathy, a postgraduate student who has been mobilizing students from several city colleges for political events of several parties. “If the meeting or rally ends within a couple of hours, the cost is ₹600. It will go up if the duration and distance of travel is longer,” said the youth who got 92 students to Alagiri’s rally.
But money does not always guarantee numbers, as commercial taxes minister K C Veeramani realized while organizing a public meeting for deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam at Vellore. “Despite spending crores, there were hardly a few hundreds at the venue,” said an AMMK office bearer, who agreed that they paid ₹150 per person to attend an earlier T T V Dhinakaran meeting in the same town.
“It is becoming tougher to mobilize people, even if one is willing to spend money,” says a former AIADMK minister from north Tamil Nadu. “When Amma was there, people used to come from 20km to 30km away for the money and to see her. In her absence, it has become difficult to mobilize crowds,” he said. “While some AIADMK workers are still enthusiastic to participate, in the DMK only a few core members attend meetings these days,” he added.
“Distributing money is not a good practice. Political leaders should dissuade their functionaries from luring people with money to show their strength,” says historian Thirunavukarasu. But that’s easier said than done, feel some. Hinting at a possible change in trend, C Gnansekaran, AMMK’s Vellore district secretary says, “We should opt for television debates among political leaders and candidates as it happens in some countries like the UK.”
PEOPLE POWER: (Above) People at the MGR Centenary celebrations in Coimbatore; (below) empty chairs are a common feature at public meetings; (right) leaders like MGR, known for his charm and oratory, would attract large crowds
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