Updated: December 23, 2020 11:28:40 am
Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. (Archive photos)
As Tamil Nadu heads to the May elections next year, Kamal Haasan became the first politician to start his campaign, long before the leaders of AIADMK and DMK. And, you have already sent a message that you would love join hands with the outfit proposed by Rajinikanth, if their ideologies coincide. But for Rajinikanth fans, it’s not a great idea at all.
What did Kamal Haasan say?
Haasan said he was open to alliance talks with Rajinikanth, who is wait to launch his new match in January 2021. “Like me, Rajinikanth is also fighting for change. But he has not yet spoken in detail about the ideology of his party. Let me reveal more. We are just a phone call away. If it is possible to work together, we will definitely consider it without any ego, ”Haasan said.
Kamal Haasan’s Party Power and Rajinikanth’s Prospects
Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) from Haasan is currently running for election alone. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, his party got 3.77 percent of the vote. Haasan’s attempts to establish an alliance with DMK before the general election had failed. There were also reports that the actor had approached Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to enter the DMK alliance, which turned out to be a difficult plan as DMK had told Congress to share its alliance seats with Haasan.
Before the Assembly polls, Haasan is now being called the BJP Team B due to his decision to, once again, compete alone. Unlike Rajinikanth, Haasan’s base of support also includes the Opposition (anti-AIADMK votes) that would essentially weaken the DMK camp.
Meanwhile, it is estimated that Rajinikanth’s proposed team will have to fight for a double-digit share of the votes for many reasons, including a long-delayed kickoff of the match. Rajinikanth has yet to name his party and choose a symbol, and he has yet to start campaigning on the ground. In addition, his party leaders and district officials continue to hold the unheard of positions in his fan association.
Therefore, Haasan and Rajinikanth together are expected to get a maximum share of the vote of 10 to 15 percent in the upcoming elections.
Kamal Haasan with Rajinikanth in 2008. (Photo / PTI Archive)
Why do some BJP leaders support the idea of a Rajini-Kamal Haasan combo?
Rajinikanth, a “mass hero”, has a large fan base in Tamil Nadu. However, it is unclear how many votes this will translate into, especially since he is viewed as a “BJP man” in the state.
Haasan, on the other hand, has never had a fan base quite like Rajinikanth’s. But, he has been projected with the image of an atheist, a rationalist with a strong lineage of leftist and Dravidian ideologies.
A high-ranking BJP leader said that the union of both actors would create a powerful third front in Tamil Nadu. This is because it is estimated that around 70 percent of the votes obtained by Rajinikanth’s party would be from the traditional AIADMK and BJP camps. But, the BJP leader said that doesn’t matter. “This election is nothing to us. Amit Shah’s statements were clear during his last visit to Chennai; we are working for 2026, when BJP will be the main opposition to DMK ”.
While Rajinikanth is also expected to get some Dalit votes, what makes Haasan’s MNM an interesting entity for the BJP is the urban votes it got in Lok Sabha polls – more than a lakh of votes each in Coimbatore and three electoral districts in the city of Chennai. While it failed to capture the imagination of the rural population, it did garner a comfortable share of votes from pockets known to comprise upper-caste Hindus, despite their Dravidian, left-wing and rationalist image.
Why do fans hate the idea of an electoral alliance between Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan?
By keeping these electoral combinations separate, fans of the two actors may not be enthusiastic about an alliance. Even if Haasan fans agree, Rajinikanth fans, who consider Haasan to be less than their superstar, are opposed to the idea.
Talking to The Indian Express, a Rajinikanth fan association official said Haasan, by proposing the idea of an alliance, was actually exposing his vulnerable position. “Why should my leader join hands with him? Our people are different, we are not atheists or fans of Periyar like him (Haasan), ”he said.
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S Shankar, a journalist-turned-leader of the Rajinikanth fan club, who runs a website for the actor, questioned Haasan’s proposal. “When Rajinikanth is going to be a tsunami in this election, what is the need for a smaller wave like Haasan’s party? If there are people who join the Rajinikanth alliance, it would be like-minded people and parties like GK Vasan’s Tamil Maanila Congress or Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), ”he said.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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