VANDUTTENNU SOLLU

VANDUTTENNU SOLLU

Rajini Has Announced His Entry, But The Script Will Not Be In His Hands For All Cadres Are Fans, But All Fans May Not Be Cadres

04.12.2020

Jaya.Menon@timesgroup.com

In 1973, when M G Ramachandran rebelled against M Karunanidhi and formed ADMK, he took with him a chunk of the DMK’s frontline leaders and grassroot workers. But his fan clubs, the Mandrams, named after his films ‘Urimai Kural’ and ‘Naalai Namadhe’ formed the backbone of his new party. Three years later, ADMK swept the 1977 assembly election. Will actor Rajinikanth, who will turn 70 soon, repeat the MGR magic? Or even replicate the success of N T Rama Rao, who floated Telugu Desam in 1982 and defeated the Congress within a year?

The actor’s fans, friends and associates are confident that Rajinikanth’s yet-to-be-named new party would storm the Dravidian arena and sweep the April 2021 assembly election. But that’s easier said than done as it is a David versus Goliath battle. With barely five months to go for the election, Rajini and his band of ‘rasigars’ are pitted against the two Dravidian giants, the ruling AIADMK and the DMK, who have been preparing for the 2021 election ever since the outcome of the last one.

Now that the actor has taken the political dive, the real challenges are yet to come. Rolling out a political party is no easy task and contesting an election five months later much less.

The Rajini Makkal Mandram, a loosely put-together outfit, a precursor to a formal political party, is packed with politically inexperienced fans. While confidantes affirm that the structure, from top to bottom, has been constructed with a few dedicated wings in place, appointment of toplevel officebearers are yet to get underway. Those already appointed in the lower rungs are mostly Rajni’s film fans, who have little knowledge of the ways of politics. “But we anticipate the erosion of rival parties to begin soon. We will get senior leaders from other parties too, those with good reputation and integrity,” said a close associate, seeking anonymity.

While the making of a political party could prove a daunting task, there’s more. For any party, the booth committees form the backbone of its election machinery. While his associates claim that 80% of the work has been completed, Rajini’s fans, who constitute these committees, have little political experience. The actor is expected to rope in political experts and strategists, but his dithering over the years has cut into precious time required for the massive task of transforming fans into cadres.

RSS ideologue and Rajini’s closest advisor S Gurumurthy dismisses the potential hurdles saying his mere entry into politics would create a groundswell of support among people. “After Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa, politics shifted from personalities to party. Now the focus would be on Rajini,” said Gurumurthy. “He’s an honest man wanting to do good for the people and a spiritual leader…these are features not seen in any leader in TN today,” he said.

With the pandemic proving a major dampener, Rajini, who has health issues, will have to depend on 3D Holographic projection technology to reach people. How effective such a campaign would be remains to be seen. “But imagine 20 Rajnikanths walking on the streets of TN,” said Gurumurthy gleefully.

There’s the biggest challenge yet – choosing the ideal partners to face the election. Pressure from the BJP has been immense not just for him to enter politics but to team up with it to break the Dravidian stranglehold over Tamil Nadu. Close associates have emphasized the actor’s apprehension in teaming up with the BJP for fear of losing minority votes. Which path he chooses could define the actor’s political fate.