102 not out: MGR magic IN THE TIME OF POLLS
On The AIADMK Founder’s Birth Anniversary, A Look At His Inimitable Legacy
Jaya.Menon@timesgroup.com 17.01.2019
As cadres celebrate his 102nd birth anniversary on January 17, is M G Ramachandran’s legacy still alive? Do ageing voters in TN’s southern hinterland still feel his presence in Dravidian politics? Has their adoration rubbed off on young voters? MGR films continue to be watched across Tamil Nadu and his contemporaries in politics and women fans are still bewitched by his celluloid aura. And, when it is time to make that ritualistic visit to polling booths, many in the state’s rural constituencies swear by MGR’s ‘retta ilai’ (two-leaves).
But, with TN parties gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections — sans political giants M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa — observers say party symbols, the two-leaves and the rising sun, are likely to be the real heroes. Many AIADMK old timers believe that a good 25% of voters, aged 70 and above, would still vote for the two leaves symbol, despite the party’s performance — all for the sake of MGR. “It’s not just the old. Young AIADMK cadres have been fed stories of his warmth and generosity by their fathers and grandfathers, who take the name of MGR every day,” said 36-year-old Raj Satyan, AIADMK’s IT wing secretary.
MGR, particularly, has die-hard fans in a dalit sub-sect called Arunthathiyar, the daily wagers and the downtrodden. “The two leaves symbol is still identified with MGR and is perhaps the most potent factor in elections here and the biggest danger for the DMK,” said a former AIADMK leader, not willing to be named.
But, within the AIADMK, the struggle is to keep alive the aura of Jayalalithaa, ‘MGR’s true heir’. On January 17, 2008, when she sensed trouble from actor and DMDK leader Vijayakanth, Jayalalithaa made a quick visit to “Thottam” (MGR’s Ramavaram Gardens residence in Chennai). “We are MGR’s true political heirs”, she said, after she was given a warm reception by MGR’s adopted children for the first time. A few days later, she reinstated MGR acolyte C Ponnaiyan in the party and made him her political adviser. She had dropped him from the party in 2006 without giving any reason. Ponnaiyan, now the AIADMK spokesman, told TOI, “MGR is eternal.”
In the AIADMK’s pocket boroughs, MGR remained an icon. Fourteen years after his death, in the 2001 assembly election, old men and women in hamlets of Theni believed MGR was still alive. So strong was his allure that villagers were ready to bet on the two leaves symbol unconditionally. “The fan frenzy you see now is nothing compared to the adulation his fans had for MGR. They did not pour milk on his posters, they helped control crowds. He was warm, generous. He is in everyone’s heart even today,” said Abirami S Ramanathan, who pioneered the business of movie theatres in Chennai.
The adulation for MGR notwithstanding, some observers point out the emerging young, non-committed voters would eventually push to decide the outcome of polls based on real-time issues. “Even in the 1989 assembly election, the first after MGR’s death (in December 1987), the Jayalalithaa and Janaki factions of the AIADMK failed to capitalize on his legacy. The DMK won,” said N Sathiya Moorthy of Observer Research Foundation. But, as Jayalalithaa took over the reins and projected herself as MGR’s heir, the AIADMK’s fortunes soared.
MGR’s biographer R Kannan feels the former chief minister is now a distant memory for the generations of voters who have since come of age. Jayalalithaa and her memory could still be a potent force for her followers to exploit. But, with no one as charismatic as she was to exploit it as she did MGR’s, her legacy might be forgotten sooner with a sizeable number of first-time voters joining the political process, said Kannan.
The fight for the AIADMK will intensify. But, the magic that made MGR a phenomenon in TN politics may well be on the wane.
Much like Caliph Harun al Rashid, MGR’s renown came from his huge heart, his charisma, his parent DMK and his carefully cultivated screen image as a do-gooder and a man who fought the mighty for the suppressed and oppressed, the weak and the poor — R Kannan AUTHOR OF ‘MGR: A LIFE’
On The AIADMK Founder’s Birth Anniversary, A Look At His Inimitable Legacy
Jaya.Menon@timesgroup.com 17.01.2019
As cadres celebrate his 102nd birth anniversary on January 17, is M G Ramachandran’s legacy still alive? Do ageing voters in TN’s southern hinterland still feel his presence in Dravidian politics? Has their adoration rubbed off on young voters? MGR films continue to be watched across Tamil Nadu and his contemporaries in politics and women fans are still bewitched by his celluloid aura. And, when it is time to make that ritualistic visit to polling booths, many in the state’s rural constituencies swear by MGR’s ‘retta ilai’ (two-leaves).
But, with TN parties gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections — sans political giants M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa — observers say party symbols, the two-leaves and the rising sun, are likely to be the real heroes. Many AIADMK old timers believe that a good 25% of voters, aged 70 and above, would still vote for the two leaves symbol, despite the party’s performance — all for the sake of MGR. “It’s not just the old. Young AIADMK cadres have been fed stories of his warmth and generosity by their fathers and grandfathers, who take the name of MGR every day,” said 36-year-old Raj Satyan, AIADMK’s IT wing secretary.
MGR, particularly, has die-hard fans in a dalit sub-sect called Arunthathiyar, the daily wagers and the downtrodden. “The two leaves symbol is still identified with MGR and is perhaps the most potent factor in elections here and the biggest danger for the DMK,” said a former AIADMK leader, not willing to be named.
But, within the AIADMK, the struggle is to keep alive the aura of Jayalalithaa, ‘MGR’s true heir’. On January 17, 2008, when she sensed trouble from actor and DMDK leader Vijayakanth, Jayalalithaa made a quick visit to “Thottam” (MGR’s Ramavaram Gardens residence in Chennai). “We are MGR’s true political heirs”, she said, after she was given a warm reception by MGR’s adopted children for the first time. A few days later, she reinstated MGR acolyte C Ponnaiyan in the party and made him her political adviser. She had dropped him from the party in 2006 without giving any reason. Ponnaiyan, now the AIADMK spokesman, told TOI, “MGR is eternal.”
In the AIADMK’s pocket boroughs, MGR remained an icon. Fourteen years after his death, in the 2001 assembly election, old men and women in hamlets of Theni believed MGR was still alive. So strong was his allure that villagers were ready to bet on the two leaves symbol unconditionally. “The fan frenzy you see now is nothing compared to the adulation his fans had for MGR. They did not pour milk on his posters, they helped control crowds. He was warm, generous. He is in everyone’s heart even today,” said Abirami S Ramanathan, who pioneered the business of movie theatres in Chennai.
The adulation for MGR notwithstanding, some observers point out the emerging young, non-committed voters would eventually push to decide the outcome of polls based on real-time issues. “Even in the 1989 assembly election, the first after MGR’s death (in December 1987), the Jayalalithaa and Janaki factions of the AIADMK failed to capitalize on his legacy. The DMK won,” said N Sathiya Moorthy of Observer Research Foundation. But, as Jayalalithaa took over the reins and projected herself as MGR’s heir, the AIADMK’s fortunes soared.
MGR’s biographer R Kannan feels the former chief minister is now a distant memory for the generations of voters who have since come of age. Jayalalithaa and her memory could still be a potent force for her followers to exploit. But, with no one as charismatic as she was to exploit it as she did MGR’s, her legacy might be forgotten sooner with a sizeable number of first-time voters joining the political process, said Kannan.
The fight for the AIADMK will intensify. But, the magic that made MGR a phenomenon in TN politics may well be on the wane.
Much like Caliph Harun al Rashid, MGR’s renown came from his huge heart, his charisma, his parent DMK and his carefully cultivated screen image as a do-gooder and a man who fought the mighty for the suppressed and oppressed, the weak and the poor — R Kannan AUTHOR OF ‘MGR: A LIFE’
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