Chennai: After getting in the crosshairs of the AIADMK leadership with his comments against the "rotten system," actor Rajinikanth on Monday sought to snatch away that party's biggest asset- the MGR legacy. He also sought to occupy the leadership vaccum caused by J Jayalalithaa's death and M Karunanidhi's retirement.
"I am not MGR, but I can give you a rule like MGR's, a rule for the poor," said Rajini at MGR Educational and Research Institute. Dismissing statements that he delayed his entry into politics because of Jayalalithaa, Rajini said, "I don't have to remind you of 1996. If I feared her, I couldn't have opposed her then. Jayalalithaa and Kalaignar (M Karunanithi) were great leaders. But the throne has fallen vacant now. I will fill the space. God is on our side."
Deviating from the refrain of politicians on the love for Tamil, Rajinikanth urged the Tamil youth to learn English. "For success in any profession, you need English proficiency. Learn the language. Just by speaking Tamil, the language doesn't grow. For the language to grow, you should grow," he said. He promised to use technology and seek expert advice to provide a rule as good as MGR's.
On a personal note, Rajinikanth continued: "My marriage to Latha would not have been possible without MGR. I couldn't have built Raghavendra marriage hall without MGR. When I was hospitalised for two months in 1978 after a nervous breakdown, chief minister MGR saw to it that I recovered well."
Almost every minute of half-an-hour speech had the name MGR; using such encomiums as 'yuga purushan', 'deiva piravi', 'marma manidhan' and 'maaya manidhan' triggering repeated rounds of applause. "It would be foolish for one to assume that he can become like MGR. There will be no one like him for another 1,000 years."
The function, organised by the institute founder A C Shanmugam, who was a Lok Sabha member of the AIADMK during MGR's rule, marked the former chief minister's centenary as also the 30th anniversary of the institute.
Rajinikanth said Shanmugam has virtually turned the function into an election rally.
“I was not going to talk politics as this is an educational institution. But Shanmugam, my friend of 30 years, lit the fire.” Sharing the dais with Rajinikanth was former Chennai mayor and AIADMK leader Saidai Duraiswamy.
“Shanmugam insisted that he wanted (for the function) someone from the film industry as MGR rose to power from the cine field. He favoured me as I was also a friend of MGR.” The ‘Kaala’ actor said he had to leave cinema and enter politics as politicians were not doing their job. He warned seasoned politicians, who have been making fun of him, to be cautious of the public’s intelligence.
“The political bug bit me in 1996. From then on I have been following politics closely. I have learned from greats like Kalaignar, Moopanar and Cho. I know how politics works. I know the path is filled with thorns and snakes. If I am coming to politics at this age, why are you discouraging me? Let us stop this politics of name calling,” Rajini said.
Responding to barbs at his ‘spiritual politics’, Rajini said, “My spiritual politics will be about purity. It means all people are one. It is not to say that Dravidian politics does not possess these qualities. Belief in God is spiritual politics. Soon you are going to see what spiritual politics is all about.”
What the actor is doing, ironically, is trying and dismantling the political structure that was established by MGR. Winning elections, Rajinikanth's political friends would have told him, is all about taking away someone else's vote. Rajinikanth's principal target, it is obvious, is the AIADMK. He would also be banking on the fact that the religious AIADMK lot would find synergy with his God-fearing persona.
The advantage Rajinikanth has is that people cutting across party lines are his fans. By choosing to mouth platitudes about both MGR and M Karunanidhi, he is trying to wean away those admirers. By doing so, Rajinikanth is also suggesting that the present leadership of the AIADMK and even the DMK, is not of the same class it was under its previous greats.
The question is whether the MGR card will really work for Rajinikanth. It has been 30 years since MGR passed away and Jayalalithaa, despite being seen as his protege both in Kollywood and politics, worked to reduce his legacy to posters, statues and cutouts. During her reign at the AIADMK, she encouraged a personality cult around herself, with MGR only a name to be invoked to get votes from his admirers. The AIADMK of today is more of a Jayalalithaa party than one in the image of the man who established it.
But what cannot be denied is that there still exists among the older voters in rural Tamil Nadu who have seen the MGR era, a loyalty factor. These are people who voted for MGR even when he was on the hospital bed in the US, unable to speak. Rajinikanth is casting himself as a MGR favourite, to dip into this votebank.
The actor is also positioning himself as different from the rest of the unabashed political breed. In the face of criticism that his fans had plastered the entire stretch to the university with his banners and hoardings, despite a high court order against posters of living persons, Rajinikanth admitted they had crossed a limit and asked his supporters to desist from doing so in the future. The AIADMK leaders, despite the death of a youth in Coimbatore last year, had refused to fall in line.
However, for the more informed voter, a return to the MGR era comes with its attendant risks. It would imply a non-questioning electorate, that is swayed by sheer star power, blind faith and a belief that reel is real. Tamil Nadu does not have a clue to Rajinikanth's political ideology or his position on contentious issues. The keys to Fort St George cannot be handed over without a proper background check.
Then there is the BJP — the party that is suspected to be the puppeteer behind Rajinikanth. AC Shanmugam, the chancellor of the MGR Educational Institute and the person who organised the event, was the BJP candidate from Vellore in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. It raises questions about whether Rajinikanth is merely a proxy for the BJP.
It is also quite likely that Rajinikanth's stories of his proximity to MGR will be contested because versions of those who were in positions of power at that time suggest the two weren't really as close as the actor made it out to be. The AIADMK is also unlikely to let him get away by portraying the present leadership as no good.
