Four punchlines that defined Rajinikanth's politics

A Dravidian movement intellectual (now deceased) told us once “Rajini is basically a Hindutvavadi (“ரஜினி அடிப்படையில் ஒரு ஹிந்துத்துவவாதி”). This perhaps was a facile assertion but not without any basis.

Many votaries of Dravidian movement hate him for a host of reasons. For them, he is a trashy cultural  ‘import’, cunningly co-opted by ‘Aryanic’ forces to perpetuate their alleged hegemony on Tamil cultural imagination.

His religiosity, which is curious mix of excessive piety and mumbo-jumbo of Himalayan spirituality, strikes powerful chord among legions of undulating followers, who more often than not emulate his off-screen qualities, particularly his religiosity. He invokes imagery of gods and goddesses to communicate his thoughts and feelings. He has also often professed his admiration for Vajpayee-Advani duo.

Truth be told, political trajectory of Rajinikanth has been far complex. The political class in Tamil Nadu has forged an uneasy truce with him. One shouldn’t be deceived by the public display of camaraderie as they continue to watch with bated breath any political moves, real or imagined, from his end.

We take a  look at four key quotable quotes that help us understand Rajnikanth and his politics

1. “Even God cannot save Tamil Nadu if Jaya is voted back to power” 

(ஜெயலலிதா ஆட்சிக்கு வந்தால் தமிழ்நாட்டை ஆண்டவனாலேயே காப்பாத்த முடியாது)

This powerful one liner pretty much sealed Jayalalithaa’s fate in 1996.

Rajinikanth was widely expected to float his own political formation and storm to power. He had emerged as the rallying point for the massive anger against Jayalalithaa’s megalomaniac dispensation, best exemplified by the multi-crore marriage extravaganza of her foster son and humongous corruption, most eloquently captured by the slogan “Thottil Irunthu Sudukadu Varai Ozhal” ( Corruption from Cradle to Cremation Shed). A series of seemingly silly skirmishes between Jayalithaa and Rajinikanth  blew up in to a full scale political confrontation.

A reluctant Rajinikanth, instead of taking the plunge himself, decided to back an alliance of DMK and a breakaway faction of Congress, brokered by his close journalist friend Cho Ramaswamy.

Tamil Nadu was gearing up for a Rajinikanth roadshow  but all that it got instead was an inebriated  looking Rajinikanth appearing in a 3 minute campaign video, urging voters to oust Jaya. He then disappeared, presumably on a ‘Spiritual’ sojourn to Himalayas.

The crescendo of the campaign was the DMK propaganda machinery (read Sun TV) beaming that video  1000 times a day in the run-up to polling day. AIADMK hurtled to a humiliating defeat. Such was the stunning electoral tidal wave that swept Tamil Nadu that even Jayalalithaa, contesting from Bargur, bit the dust.

 2. “I hereby announce a personal donation of Rs 10 million from my personal funds.”

Dime a dozen fringe Tamil Nationalist groups detest Rajini for his non –Tamil lineage. He was born as Shivaji Rao Gaekwad in a Marathi household settled in Bangalore. Infact the ill-informed among them think that he is  Kannadiga and is unfailingly the target of their ire whenever monsoon rains fail in Cauvery basin and the water sharing issue between the two states flares up.

One could really identify with Rajini’s pain during  one of those periodic conflagrations over the Cauvery. He pointed out, how he gets insinuated as a ‘closet Kannadiga’  by Tamil chauvinists, dismissed as being partisan towards the cause of Tamil Nadu by Kannada activists and disdainfully dismissed as ‘Madrasi’ by those in the North of India.

In 2002 he fasted for a day demanding Karnataka to release Cauvery water as per orders of the Supreme Court. Such was his remarkable popularity with common people across both the states that he emerged unscathed from it.

As he concluded his fast, he took to podium and in his stylishly incoherent speech announced that only national integration of rivers will solve the water problem across the country and pledged Rs 10 million for it.

3. “Vajpayee govt alone can resolve water crisis”

Showcasing his stupendous success in envisaging and executing the Golden Quadilateral project, Vajpayee positioned National River Integration project as the key flagship program in case NDA gets re-elected. Like everyone who assumed that Vajpayee’s return was a foregone conclusion and elections an unwelcome interregnum, Rajinikanth jumped in to the NDA bandwagon. He expressed unambiguous support to NDA alliance in 2004.

NDA lost the election and was wiped out in Tamil Nadu lending ammunition to his critics who claimed that Rajinikanth was a paper tiger. But BJP’s decision to ally with hugely unpopular Jayalalithaa was largely responsible for NDA’s electoral eclipse in Tamil Nadu.

4. “Jayalalithaa is a reincarnation of  Ashtalakshmi”

In 2006, Kollywood decided to pay obeisance to then CM Jayalalithaa by organising a uniquely Tamil cultural ritual called Parratu Vizha (Praising Festival). This was apparently in appreciation of what was described as her ‘3V’ accomplishments – Veerappan, Veeranam and (abolishing pirated) VCD.

For the uninitiated , this is how a typical Parratu Vizha goes. Scantily clad Kollywood starlets (ironically, and almost exclusively, from North India or Kerala) are seen performing dance numbers hailing the glory of great Tamil political leaders .This is then followed by panegyric speeches by stars, indulging in cringeworthy level of competitive sycophancy.

Rajinikanth, true to spirit of the event, made a dramatic turnaround in his assessment of Jayalalithaa. Going a step beyond  another Tamil politician, who once likened  Sonia, Jayalalithaa and Maya as “Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga”, Rajinikanth praised Jayalalithaa by invoking a comparison with Ashtalaskhmi.

“Even God cannot save Tamil Nadu if Jaya is voted back to power” to “Jayalalithaa is a reincarnation of Ashtalakshmi”, life indeed has come a full circle for Rajinikanth.