Starstruck? BJP Thinks It Needs Rajinikanth When It Should Really Be Steering Clear Of Him

At the outset, it all looks well for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and allied groups in Tamil Nadu with reports of Rajinikanth entering politics. During the 2014 elections, the state’s BJP unit had made its prime ministerial candidate visit the actor’s house. However, the actor remained strategically elusive about his support to the party. Later, when the invitation to the Prime Minister’s swearing-in ceremony was sent to the actor, he chose not to attend.

Of course, Rajinikanth has so far not hurt Hindu sensibilities like the other Tamil superstar, Kamal Haasan. On the contrary, he has constantly promoted ‘spiritual’ themes in some of his movies. A devotee of the Madhava saint, Swami Raghavendra, Rajinikanth himself has acted as the seer in the film Sri Raghavendra (1985). Though the film itself was not a box-office hit, Raghavendra’s spiritual tradition became popular in Tamil Nadu, thanks to Rajinikanth.

Rajinikanth was also known for uttering pop-spiritual anecdotes and for eulogising seers like Ramana. Sometimes, he also went overboard, as in the case of a video where the actor is seen recycling an utterly false anecdote about Thomas Alva Edison supporting creationist pseudo-science.

In 2002, Rajinikanth acted again in a ‘spiritual’ movie titled Baba, which borrowed incidents from the famous Autobiography of a Yogi and morphed them onto the hero. The film also hinted at the political ambitions of the actor with songs about him being cheated by those around him and about his ceasing to be a ladder to be used. The movie, however, was a flop.

Interestingly, a line in one of the songs in the film praising the hero said it was like Erode Venkata Ramasamy (EVR) becoming C Rajagopalachari. The Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) cadre, these days a motley crowd of mostly unemployed youth, then made sure that the song was dropped from the film (since notions such as the freedom of expression were concepts discovered only after May 2014).

Twice in the history of Tamil politics, though, Rajinikanth has come out with his ‘voice’.

The first instance was during the 1996 assembly elections, when he had personal scores to settle with an arrogant Jayalalithaa, who was also his neighbour. In that instance, his views had resonated with the general perception that the Jayalalithaa regime was corrupt. He had famously said that even God would not be able to save Tamil Nadu if Jayalalithaa returned to power.

Later, during the 2004 elections, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which was bitterly against Rajinikanth, had aligned itself with the Congress. After a lot of vacillation, Rajinikanth cautiously expressed his support for Atal Behari Vajpayee while taking strains not to hurt the DMK supremo. However, he entered the fray too late to create any effect. Of course, the Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance was defeated in 2004.

However, there was one significant Rajinikanth statement that many Tamils love to forget. It came in 1998 and soon after the Coimbatore bomb blasts that had killed more than 70 people.

The actor, returning from the United States, voluntarily issued a statement absolving Islamists of all crimes. That the people of Tamil Nadu have forgiven him for this irresponsible statement is bad enough. We now see the spectacle of both central and Tamil Nadu BJP units willing to forget and forgive such pandering to Islamists.

Despite the calculated insults which the actor has recently directed at the BJP, the party still seems to have some delusional dreams related to him. He recently praised many leaders of Tamil Nadu for the ‘good qualities’ he saw in them and carefully avoided naming a single BJP leader.

Rajinikanth found something praiseworthy in every Tamil politician of questionable repute and notoriety, whether it is M K Stalin, or casteist leaders like Thirumavalavan, or secessionist demagogues like Seeman. Even Karunanidhi could not have made a more dishonest statement than this, even in his hay day.

Rajinikanth has already shown that even without overt political power, his family members can become centres of nepotism. His daughter was able to find herself in New York representing India at a United Nations forum. His son-in-law is alleged to have become a power centre in his own right. All these, please note, without the aging actor having overt political power. So, if Rajinikanth ever turns to political power in the state, it may likely lead to kitchen cabinets of the worst kind. Besides, the man is yet to make a single meaningful policy statement or take up any worthwhile position on matters of public importance.

If the BJP desires a bright future in the state, it would do well to shun the opportunistic politics of aging matinee idols and instead dive head-first into the grassroots work which their workers and allied groups have been carrying on tirelessly for many years. There is no shortcut to power.