Chennai: Silencing critics and doubting Thomases alike, Superstar Rajinikanth threw his hat into the ring, dispelling rumours of beating a retreat owing to health concerns and the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic. Reviving the 'Rajini magic', he announced on Thursday that he would make public the details of his political party on New year eve and launch it well ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections a few months down the line.
“Now or never. Wonders and Miracles close at hand,” read the tweet, he posted. And then at the media conference at his residence, he said: “the time has come to change the fate of Tamil Nadu.”
For more than three decades, his political entry was a hotly debated one in the public domain with its high point being 1996, when his one-liner, “even God can't save Tamil Nadu if Jayalalithaa is voted back to power,” unseated the AIADMK prima donna and helped the DMK to return to power in alliance with Congress rebel GK Moopanar's Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC). But, even prior to that, in 1992 a popular Tamil magazine had its cover story on the actor's political entry with his fan clubs coming under political pressure.
Now that the film star with a huge fan following has made up his mind, his fans have turned ecstatic and are celebrating across the state. No sooner Rajinikanth posted the tweet with the hashtag “Now or never” and “We will Change, Change Everything,” it turned out to be the talking point.
While in 1996, he had refrained from taking the political plunge, he started consultation with his fans in 2017 after the demise of former Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi. In December, the same year, he said, “Politics is not new to me, I have entered in 1996 itself.” Later, at the close of the six-day consultation, he said, “That I have stepped into politics is certain. It is the calling of the times. I will launch the party and contest all the 234 seats in Tamil Nadu.”
However, Rajinikanth was prolonging the launch, giving room to criticism from various quarters except for the BJP. Late last month, the actor was forced to issue a statement, which confirmed his health issues contained in a message circulated on social media. While admitting the content as factual, the film star denied it was leaked through his aides. Subsequently, he had a consultation with functionaries of the Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM – Rajini People's Forum) early this week but kept the suspense about jumping into the political bandwagon.
At the media conference at his residence, he was flanked by erstwhile Congress leader, Thamizaruvi Manian and Arjuna Murthy, who was till now vice-president of state BJP and president of the saffron party's 'Intellectual Wing'.
With the superstar all set to launch the party, analysts are divided on the impact about his entry. RSS ideologue and Thuglak editor S Gurumurthy assert that Rajinikanth will help consolidate nationalist forces and bring the state back into the national mainstream. “Rajinikanth will fill the vacuum left by the two colossuses, Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa. Now, we do not have such leaders whose personality extended beyond their respective parties. To succeed, Rajinikanth has the charisma to his advantage,” he explains.
However, psephologist and Lok-Niti Tamil Nadu Coordinator P Ramajayam differ with that view and points out that Stalin has emerged as a leader in his own right and EPS has become the face of the AIADMK. In his opinion, Rajinikanth's entry would only split the anti-incumbency votes and facilitate the DMK's bid to return to power.
“The support base of Rajinikanth is the same as that of the AIADMK. His entry will only split that. Moreover, he doesn't have the support of any of the dominant castes in Tamil Nadu as was the case with the iconic film star and late Chief Minister MGR or Jayalalithaa who have cultivated that. Another lacune that Rajinikanth would suffer from is the lack of organisational network matching the dominant Dravidian parties – DMK and AIADMK,” he reasons.
Well, having sounded the poll bugle, the superstar was careful enough to admit, “If I win, it is the victory of the people. But, in case I lose, it is the loss of the people.”
From a guest role in “Apoorva Ragangal” (Rare Ragas) in 1975, in which Kamal Hassan played the lead, it was a long journey in the celluloid world, captivating the audience. Whether wonders and miracles work out, time alone could unravel.
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