| Vijayakanth:
Will fortune favour the bold? |
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Tomorrow,
the 11th of May, would decide the political
fate of Captain. If one thing that political
observers, top actors and others are eagerly
waiting next to the question of who will
be Tamil Nadu’s next CM is the result
of Vridhachalam, where Captain Vijayakanth
is contesting. |
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Cinema
and politics are good bedfellows in
Tamil Nadu. The evergreen MGR’s
screen magic permeated his political
stint. As a result, every top hero
in Tamil secretly nurses the ambition
of being the Tamil Nadu CM one day.
But, there have been several instances
of their hopes being laid by the wayside.
It could be reasonably said that the
incumbent CM, J. Jayalalithaa is the
last of the movie bandwagon of the
older generation to have made it big
in politics. |
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The
matinee Superstar Rajinikanth is playing
cat on the wall regarding political entry.
It should be noted that superstar neither
ruled out nor indicated his political ambitions.
In such a scenario comes the announcement
that Captain Vijayakanth is ready to tackle
the challenge. He threw in the gauntlet
by launching his political party at a massive
conference in Madurai in September last
year. |
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He
has been watching the trend and thanks
to his administrative experience of
being the President of the Film Actors’
Guild, he was probably enthused to
launch his own political outfit. His
films have also projected him as an
honest and upright police officer
taking on the corrupt establishment.
He has always conveyed the message
that the bureaucracy and politicians
can be prevented from becoming corrupt
only when the people decide to do
so. |
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On
this fresh image of Mr.Clean and with the
promise to make a positive difference, he
has filed his nomination to contest from
Vridhachalam. He has faced the elections
contesting in all 234 constituencies in
the state. His party may not win many seats,
but there is a palpable sense of democracy
coming alive with a newcomer challenging
the political scenario of four decades.
There is also a significant difference in
the profile of the voter this time. Most
of the youth, who are the first time voters
want a fresh air and especially from the
villages are behind Vijayakanth. |
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They
seem to say, “We have seen the
DMK and ADMK. Why not give Captain
a chance? We expected Superstar Rajini
would come one day to politics. But
he hasn’t. So we have voted
for captain.” They are also
very clear that they are not influenced
by the impact of his films. They agree
that films and politics are two separate
entities. “Films are his professional
pursuit. Politics is his way of contributing
to the society. When he has shown
the interest to pursue work for the
public, we should strengthen his will.
We are not like the older generation
to make the mistake of believing the
stars’ screen persona to be
real”. Enlightenment indeed!.
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Vijayakanth
has been ridiculed in the media for plunging
into politics because of the supposed stranglehold
by both the Dravidian parties. But the electorate
is very silent. Vijayakanth’s shrewd
move of contesting from a stronghold of
the PMK in the most politically sensitive
belt of TN shows that he is not overawed
by reputations. When the going gets tough,
the tough get going. |
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Initially
when Captain announced that he will
be contesting from Vridhachalam, a
stronghold of PMK instead of his hometown
Madurai, many raised brows declared
that he would definitely lose. But
it didn’t sustain for long.
His trusted band of workers and his
wife Premalatha worked tirelessly
going round the villages. The door-to-door
canvassing had the desired effect
as the electorate felt the need for
a chance. At this juncture many pre-poll
surveys predicted a smooth ride for
Captain. Dr. Ramadoss who was dismissive
of him initially, took notice and
approached with his own ‘method’
of campaigning. |
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He
bashed up Vijayakanth’s cine industry
background besides inciting caste feelings.
He must have thought that his vitriolic
attack against Rajini a couple of years
ago would work again this time. But, Captain
is made of sterner stuff. He bore everything
quietly and did not retort. He made a personal
appearance in the constituency only towards
the end and by that time his wife had covered
the villages and generated a lot of goodwill. |
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The
AIADMK candidate is almost a non-entity
and so the real contest is between
the Captain and the Doctor.
Doctor, in a last minute bid to counter
Captain’s popularity invited
Thangar Bachan and Seeman. Both the
respected directors did nothing to
shore up their image as talented individuals.
Their speeches reeked of nasty insinuations
and inflammable caste emotions. Well,
Thangar’s outburst is quite
understandable as he has a few scores
to settle with Captain due to certain
other issues of the past. But, one
did not expect Seeman who gave us
an excellent film like Thambi to act
in such an insensitive manner. |
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Captain
has campaigned extensively in the state
and hopes to come up with some surprises.
It should be noted that his constituency
has registered a whopping of 71% voter turn
out. And CNN-IBN exit polls have predicted
that 10% of the voters want Captain to be
the next CM. Even the heir of DMK president
M Karunanidhi, MK Stalin was far away from
Captain at 1% alone.
Whether he wins or loses, either way the
margin would be wafer-thin and each vote
he gets is the indication of the encouragement
the Tamil people are giving him for his
bold decision to contest in the lion’s
den. If he wins, it would be the death knell
for casteist politics. We cannot predict
at this stage as to how many more years
would it take for him to be the CM. That
would depend on his political acumen and
his ability to withstand and navigate the
pressures of state politics. If he is able
to strike the right chord, other stars who
have been getting importance may be sidelined.
Good luck, Captain and welcome to Arasiyal!! |
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