Tamil Nadu, India – Standing on high of a customized van on a scorching and humid afternoon in Tirunelveli, about 600km (373 miles) south of Tamil Nadu’s capital Chennai in southern India, C Joseph Vijay tells his supporters his opponents have joined fingers to cease him from turning into the state chief minister.
“My rivals would possibly seem totally different from exterior, however they’ve just one intention: that Vijay mustn’t change into the chief minister,” says the 51-year-old actor-turned-politician to a mammoth crowd that begins to chant his identify, which suggests “victory” in Tamil, in unison.
Tamil Nadu, one in all India’s most developed states with spectacular human improvement indices, additionally has a protracted historical past of electing movie stars as leaders, a few of whom are nonetheless revered by individuals as demigods years after their deaths.
As Tamil Nadu votes on Thursday to elect its 234-member state legislative meeting, Vijay’s bid for energy is the most recent addition to the state’s pattern of movie star-politicians, turning a historically bipolar battle right into a triangular contest.
‘A blessing and a curse’
Vijay entered politics with a lot fanfare when he launched the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) occasion in 2024, promising to finish the decades-old dominance of the governing Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the primary opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
Incumbent Chief Minister MK Stalin leads the DMK and its 14-party Secular Progressive Alliance, through which the Indian Nationwide Congress is a junior associate. Then again, opposition chief Edappadi Ok Palaniswami of the AIADMK heads the 10-party Nationwide Democratic Alliance, which additionally consists of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Social gathering (BJP).
The DMK and the AIADMK establish themselves as Dravidian events, which derive their names from a robust political and social justice motion in Tamil Nadu that opposed caste inequalities, championed social reforms, and rejected perceived makes an attempt by India’s extra dominant north Indian events to impose Hindi – and upper-caste Hindu values – on the non-Hindi talking southern states.
Dravidian events have held energy in Tamil Nadu constantly since 1967, with nationwide events just like the Congress and the BJP enjoying secondary roles. Whereas the BJP is contesting 27 seats in alliance with the AIADMK, the Congress is preventing for 28 seats as a part of the DMK-led coalition.
Greater than 87 % of Tamil Nadu’s 72 million persons are Hindu, adopted by Christians at 6.1 % and Muslims at 5.8 %, based on the final census performed in 2011.
Amongst Hindus, the so-called “backward” or less-privileged castes represent 45.5 %, “extraordinarily backward” castes 23.6 %, whereas Dalits are at 20.6 %. Dalits, previously known as “untouchables”, fall on the backside of India’s advanced caste hierarchy and have confronted marginalisation and violence for hundreds of years.
Vijay, son of a Christian filmmaker father and a Hindu mom who’s a background singer in movies, belongs to the Vellalar group, an prosperous agrarian group in Tamil Nadu with each Hindu and Christian members.
Vijay began his movie profession as a toddler actor in films directed by his father. His 1992 debut as a hero, nonetheless, in Naalaiya Theerpu (Tomorrow’s Verdict), flopped. Following the setback, his father solid him alongside widespread star Vijayakanth — who later based his personal political outfit, Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) — in Senthoorapandi (1993), which gave his profession a brand new lease of life.
It was the 2004 movie Ghilli (Gutsy), which carried a delicate political undertone, that catapulted Vijay to famous person standing. He dropped hints about his political ambitions within the 2013 hit Thalaivaa (Chief), which was launched with the tagline “Time to Lead”.
Quickly, political messaging turned central to lots of Vijay’s subsequent movies. Even the title of his yet-to-be-released Jana Nayagan (Individuals’s Chief) — which he claims will likely be his ultimate movie — alludes to his political aspirations.
Using on private charisma, Vijay has attracted tens of millions of supporters to his rallies, regardless of allegations of poor crowd administration, which induced a stampede at one such gathering in September final yr, killing 42 individuals.
He’s anticipated to attract a share of Dalit and minority Christian votes that may have in any other case flowed to the DMK-led coalition. He’s additionally banking on anti-incumbency votes that would have benefitted the AIADMK alliance.
But analysts say Vijay’s ambition of turning into the following chief minister won’t be as simple because the scripted blockbusters he has constructed his profession on, since he faces two opponents with many years of expertise in actual politics.
That leads political commentator R Kannan to explain Vijay as “each a blessing and a curse” for the 2 Dravidian coalitions.
“When the AIADMK joined the BJP-led NDA, many predicted the Dravidian occasion would lose closely, with minorities and Dalits flocking to the DMK. Vijay’s entry, nonetheless, has supplied the AIADMK a ray of hope — he’s anticipated to attract an honest share of votes that may in any other case have gone to the DMK,” he stated.
“On the similar time, he works within the DMK’s favour by siphoning off anti-incumbency votes that may not totally have gone to the AIADMK. For each Dravidian events, he’s directly a blessing and a curse.”
Tamil Nadu’s tryst with stars
Vijay is aiming to comply with the trail of illustrious predecessors: Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran, popularly referred to as MGR, and his protege, Jayaram Jayalalithaa – Tamil Nadu’s most beloved on-screen pair.
Born into poverty, MGR’s rise to stardom was nothing wanting phenomenal. He captured the creativeness of Tamil Nadu’s working class, who idolised him in return. From his first superhit, Rajakumari (Princess) in 1947, his movies solid him as a champion of the plenty, battling oppression and corrupt authority.
MGR launched the AIADMK in 1972 after breaking away from the DMK and served as Tamil Nadu’s chief minister from 1977 to 1987. He launched a number of welfare programmes, probably the most vital being the Puratchi Thalaivar MGR Nutritious Meal Scheme, which offered free meals to schoolchildren to remove malnutrition and enhance college enrolment.
His political inheritor, Jayalalithaa, was a six-time chief minister between 1991 and 2016, when she turned India’s first feminine state chief to die in workplace. She is remembered for launching a number of women-centric programmes, together with all-women police stations and subsidised two-wheelers for working girls, aside from her work in curbing feminine infanticide.
The DMK additionally has a historical past of movie personalities, together with the occasion’s founder, CN Annadurai, who rose to fame as a pathbreaking scriptwriter with movies like Velaikkari (1949), and MGR because the occasion’s star campaigner and chief earlier than he based the AIADMK.
Quickly, Muthuvel Karunanidhi emerged as one other outstanding author, poet and screenwriter with movies like Parasakthi (1952), that means Supreme Energy, usually cited as a turning level in Tamil cinema. Directed by Krishnan-Panju and written by Karunanidhi, then 28 years previous, the movie fiercely attacked casteism and social inequality, whereas propelling the unfold of the Dravidian ideology.
Karunanidhi, popularly referred to as Kalaignar (artist), wrote scripts for greater than 75 movies that resonated with the struggles of the working class, championing rationalism and social equality.
He gained the Tamil Nadu Legislative Meeting election for a file 13 phrases and served because the state’s chief minister for 5 phrases between 1969 and 2011. He died on the age of 94 in 2018, when his son, Stalin, took over as chief minister and DMK chief.
Movie star-politicians who embraced Tamil id politics flourished, whereas those that didn’t fell by the wayside.
“Profitable leaders resembling MGR, popularly referred to as Puratchi Thaalaivar [Revolutionary Leader], Jayalalithaa, who earned the monikers Puratchi Thalaivi [Revolutionary Female Leader] and Amma [Mother], embraced id politics. One other widespread movie actor, Sivaji Ganesan, in contrast, couldn’t make the identical mark in politics even after he tried,” says Kannan, who has written biographies of MGR and Annadurai.
In 2005, widespread actor Vijayakanth added to the starry combine by launching his DMDK occasion, one other Dravidian political outfit. He made each try to place his occasion as an alternative choice to the DMK and the AIADMK, however failed. The occasion gained only one seat in 2006 — Vijayakanth’s personal — and drew a clean in 2009. Although he went on to change into the chief of the opposition within the meeting in 2011, the election reverses compelled him to hunt alliances. The DMDK, now led by his spouse Premalatha, is contesting 10 seats in alliance with the DMK.
Which is the place, say analysts, Vijay’s pitch for energy is unlikely to make an impression on this election. They are saying his TVK occasion doesn’t fall within the lengthy line of Dravidian events which have a definite political ideology and programme that appeals to their voters.
“Tamil Nadu is an ideologically and politically advanced state. Points resembling social justice, centre-state relations, and linguistic and cultural id are paramount right here. Individuals won’t again a politician with out a clear ideology,” Ramu Manivannan, former professor of political science on the College of Madras, informed Al Jazeera.
Manivannan stated giant crowds at Vijay’s rallies shouldn’t be mistaken for potential votes. “Movie stars all the time entice crowds. To imagine all of them will translate into votes is unfair.”
Vijay’s TVK is rooted in his fan golf equipment, which thrive on masculine aggression, says S Anandhi, retired professor on the Madras Institute of Improvement Research.
“Vijay’s populist rhetoric — defying all authority — appeals strongly to the youth. However he by no means clarifies what he’ll truly do in energy. He frames it as all established forces being arrayed in opposition to younger males, and children see this as a chance for a brand new type of collectivisation. I’d name it a harmful class,” she informed Al Jazeera.
Enchantment to younger, feminine voters
Vijay seems to be banking closely on two voter blocs: youthful voters between 18 and 39 years, who quantity 23 million of the state’s 57 million voters, and girls, who account for greater than half of them.
At his rallies full of younger individuals and girls, Vijay has alleged that Stalin’s true allies are “bribery and corruption”, framing the competition as a private battle between himself and the chief minister.
Stalin, for his half, has largely dismissed Vijay’s assaults. “Newly-formed events have a unsuitable notion that they’ll survive by criticising DMK,” he stated in a latest interview.
As an alternative, Stalin has targeted his assaults on the Modi authorities, accusing it of depriving Tamil Nadu of its share of federal funds, and framing the election as a contest between Tamil Nadu and New Delhi – a ploy that concurrently targets the AIADMK for allying with an “adversary”, the BJP.
The AIADMK’s Palaniswami has countered by saying Stalin raises the centre-state challenge solely as a result of he has “no achievements of his personal to indicate”.
Regardless of their ideological variations, all events are competing closely on welfare guarantees in a state identified for freebies throughout elections.
The DMK has pledged to double the month-to-month girls’s allowance to 2,000 rupees ($21), provide 8,000 rupees ($85) in dwelling equipment coupons, and construct a million properties for the poor over 5 years. The AIADMK, additionally promising a month-to-month allowance of two,000 rupees for ladies, has moreover supplied free fridges to the poor and a one-time household grant of 10,000 rupees ($106).
Vijay’s TVK, hoping to money in on the continued world gas disaster, has promised six free LPG cylinders yearly, 2,500 rupees ($26.5) month-to-month help for the feminine heads of a family, 8gm gold and a silk saree for poor girls getting married, 4,000 rupees ($42.5) stipend for unemployed school graduates, and interest-free training loans of as much as 2 million rupees ($21,257).
Nonetheless, Kannan feels Vijay can at finest be a disruptor within the three-cornered contest.
“Vijay’s marketing campaign gained momentum within the ultimate lap. He turned what was a bipolar contest right into a three-cornered one. However aside from his private charisma, he lacks correct organisational equipment. Lots of his occasion’s candidates are unknown faces,” he stated.
