For AIADMK cadres, former chief minister Jayalalithaa was their 'amma' (mother), their eternal leader. But her successor and the incumbent Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisami has gone a step further, trying to establish himself as god (sami).
This week, Tamil cinemagoers, who rushed into theatres, which were shut down due to a 48-day-long strike, were in for surprise. A two-minute government advertisement was displayed on the screens before the movie commenced. The advertisement, released by the Tamil Nadu Film Chamber, lionised the deflating Palanisami administration, dubbing it the “people’s government”. The two-minute video, that has gone viral, shows a young woman in a wheelchair reaching a temple. The girl, who is the beneficiary of a government job, goes in to offer prayers. She performs archanai, a ritualistic offering for the gods. Another woman enters, telling the girl that her victory was an encouragement and inspiration for disabled people everywhere. In whose name should the archanai be performed, the priest asks the girl. The offering should not be in her name, she says, but in the name of ‘sami’. “Sami does not mean god. To me, the god is our Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisami. The archanai is in his name.” At these words, a large section of the audience in the theatre guffawed in surprise and amusement.
As the theatres opened after a long strike, people poured into watch movies; this was, sources say, a big opportunity for the state government to project its works. Of late, the administration has been reeling under several protests, and various contentious issues like Cauvery water board and sex scandals. Palanisami’s government is widely considered non-performing by economic experts and political observers in the state. Even when Jayalalithaa was in power, her government’s welfare schemes were played in the theatres as advertisements; she branded herself 'amma' and the 'saviour of Tamils'. She was even called 'Cauvery thai' (mother of Cauvery), for getting the Cauvery River Water Tribunal order published in the government gazette.
In a state like Tamil Nadu, cinema heroes are accorded a demi-god status. But Palanisami has gone a step further, and this latest advertisement has become fodder for social media memes and trolls. Palanisami was once the PWD minister in Jayalalithaa’s government, brought in as chief minister by AIADMK’s jailed leader V.K. Sasikala. Palanisami is the third chief minister in this AIADMK regime, after Jayalalithaa and O. Panneerselvam.