Too Early To Talk About Vijay's Politics, But The Start Has Been Disappointing

Looking at the breathless prose and animated discussions around Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), one cannot help but feel a bit perplexed.

The party is hardly out of the incubator — it was announced in February and its first political show was held last month — but the incessant media chatter would suggest that actor Vijay is in a firm political saddle.

Until the party's conference in Tamil Nadu's Vikravandi last month, we didn't have much clue as to what Vijay's political ideology was. But going by what he spoke at the conference, and also by the resolutions passed at the party's executive council meeting on 3 November, it is more than clear that, in terms of policies and ideas, TVK is no more than DMK lite, with hardly anything new to offer. ("DMK" stands for Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.)

Though Vijay has tried to project his party as being anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and anti-DMK, the words are already ringing hollow as the party's position is no different from the Dravidian one's.

In a sense, it is not surprising. For there are certain things in Tamil Nadu so well entrenched that it is impossible to do business without them.

For instance, they have to be veritable 'kazhagams' and have to willy-nilly invoke EVR (Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy), even though his views and politics were, for all practical purposes, built on the foundation of bigotry.

It is one of the tragedies of Indian politics that Dravidian ideology, which is predicated on hatred and chauvinism, passes for some credible liberal approach. That is because the Dravidian ecosystem controls the narrative and has been constantly on top of it for decades.

All The Usual Boxes Ticked

Vijay has paid obeisance to all the self-announced Dravidian totems. And he has also presented himself as being more tuned towards communist shibboleths, however worn out and irrelevant they may be.

This is another of Tamil Nadu politics' banes. No party can claim it has a right-of-centre view on the economy. So, the usual spiel about how the corporates are evil incarnates and how private enterprise is out to suck people's blood is spun with practiced inevitability.

And the 49-year-old actor, who is among the top-most paid actors in the country and has lived a life far removed from the common man, talks about socialist ideals. In itself, the thought isn't wrong, but it is mostly a failed 'ism'. Now the actor, who once appeared as a brand ambassador for a cola company, has to be believed when he holds forth on how bad such cola companies are. Sigh!

The socialist talk doesn't come solo; it plays duet with anti-development (big projects) shouting. It is no surprise then that Vijay's party is also opposed to the new airport project conceived for Chennai at Parandur.

Of course, all development works come at a cost, and some part of nature takes a beating. It is how the modern world rolls. But it is for civil society to weigh the scales as to whether the trade-offs are overall profitable to the people.

But all parties take an antagonistic position when in opposition but go to the other extreme when in power. So, Vijay, as he is piloting himself to an adversarial position, has chosen to speak the terms from the communist manifesto, as it were.

Also look at the resolutions passed at the party's meet on Sunday. Anti-Neet. Box ticked. Opposition to 'one nation, one election'. That box too is ticked. Noise against Tasmac culture and the rising drug use. Oh, heck! Those are default settings. They come ticked right at the factory.

Language issue, Governor's role, you name it; Vijay's party has made itself clear. And it is no different from the DMK's. (For the record, the DMK, despite being in power and in a position to change these things, is also against, at least on paper, against the Tasmac.)

Nothing New To Offer

So, we have to believe that a party which has no policy difference with the DMK comes with a promise that it will be different from the DMK.

Well, most newbies that arrive in Tamil Nadu's political scene are usually heralded with the cry that it is the BJP B or C team when in reality they are no more than DMK clones, and also end up eating into or splitting the anti-DMK votes.

We saw it most recently with Kamal Haasan's disaster of a party, Makkal Needhi Maiam. If anything, the 70-year-old actor made even more scathing statements against the DMK only to comfortably sleep with it in the end when it came to elections. In the events, Vijay's pronouncements have to be consumed with circumspection, if not downright cynicism.

But TVK has also done well to provide grist to keep the media mill working and get the headlines in the bargain. TVK has spared the beleaguered All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) from much criticism. This has set off the predictable chatter that the actor's party may sally forth in tandem with EPS' outfit (EPS is short for Edappadi K Palaniswami). Vijay has also dropped words to the effect that he is willing to share power with other parties.

So, everyone is asking whether this is a hook to lure VCK to its folds. This is the oldest PR trick in setting the narrative. For this pushes to the sidelines the real question that begs to be asked: Is the TVK in such a position that it can discuss seat-sharing with more established parties?

The TVK has also stirred Seeman's Naam Tamilar Katchi nest. While Seeman, as is his wont, had been building himself to be a potential ally to the TVK, the actor, at least for now, seems to have fobbed it off. So, it has triggered a fusillade of invectives from Seeman.

Again, no surprises there. When you are trying to build up your party, no news is bad news. Old media dictum.

Vijay has got the optics game spot-on so far. But for the rest, the actor's party hasn't offered anything sustainable to be debated with any amount of seriousness. But alas, politics in this country has come to be about who is making what noise.