ON MARCH 9, hundreds of young men and women filled a swanky hall in one of Chennai’s prominent hotels, awaiting the arrival of actor-director Kamal Haasan, who promised to “bring change” to politics. Kamal, known as ulaganayagan (world hero) in film circles and nammavar (our man) in the political arena, walked in two hours late, with loudspeakers blaring “Naalai namadhey” (tomorrow is ours), the campaign theme of the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), his political party. It got the crowd excited, but they were more interested in clicking pictures of the superstar.
“Going by the present trends, Kamal’s vote share will definitely go up to 8 per cent from the 3.7 per cent he got in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. It will not be a surprise even if it touches double digits. But he will only end up a spoiler,” said political analyst Raveenthran Thuraisamy. Kamal’s recent rallies have drawn huge crowds, but observers feel he is unlikely to turn into a political phenomenon like former chief minister M.G. Ramachandran.
“Kamal does not enjoy support among the rural masses,” said Thuraisamy. “He is not a mass hero like MGR. He cannot be compared even with Vijayakanth, who enjoys huge popularity among rural voters.” Kamal has nevertheless offered Tamil Nadu a different brand of politics. His focus is on “honesty” and he promises a “government free of corruption”. Suave and articulate, he is quite popular among the upper caste—mostly Brahmin—voters despite his atheist, non-religious identity. He may not be a good orator, but he has been efficient in conveying his message to the voters. He, however, hardly touches upon topics like social justice or ethno-linguistic issues which have played a major role in shaping Dravidian politics.
At a recent news conference, when asked about the newly introduced 10.5 per cent internal reservation for the Vanniyar community, Kamal passed the question on to his colleague Pazha Karuppaiah, former MLA from the Harbour constituency. “Even a less prominent player like Seeman (filmmaker-turned politician) and his Naam Thamilar Katchi has an ideology, which is based on Tamil nationalism. But what is Kamal’s ideology? He is having trouble with a bag full of confused ideologies,” said academic and political analyst P. Ramajayam.
For instance, while justifying his stand on having no truck with Dravidian parties, Kamal has struggled to explain his identity as a Dravidian. “As long as the word ‘Dravida’ exists in our national anthem, Dravidianism will exist. I only meant that the MNM will not have an alliance with any of the Kazhagams (the DMK and the AIADMK),” he said. Ramajayam said Kamal always presented himself as an alternative to the Dravidian majors, but had failed to explain whether he supported or opposed Dravidian politics.
Kamal’s critics, meanwhile, say the MNM is nothing more than the BJP’s B team. They cite his open support for Anna University vice chancellor M.K. Surappa, who has run into controversies ranging from alleged financial irregularities to the introduction of Bhagavad Gita as a subject for engineering students, to argue that he is close to the BJP. “His primary agenda is to destroy Dravidian politics, which is also the agenda of the RSS and the BJP,” said DMK spokesperson A. Saravanan. Lawyer C. Rajashekaran, who was with the MNM till April 2018, said Kamal was a good actor, but a bad politician. He said he joined hands with Kamal after being inspired by his views on honesty and alternative politics, but became disillusioned after a while. “Kamal stands exposed with every step he takes,” he said.
Hero and the crew: Kamal Haasan with his party candidates in Chennai | PTI
In the upcoming assembly elections, Kamal is focusing on urban constituencies, keeping in mind the MNM’s performance in the Lok Sabha polls. He has fielded candidates from 10 urban and industrialised constituencies in the Coimbatore region, which have significant Brahmin and Gounder votes. Kamal himself is contesting from Coimbatore South, which the MNM considers to be a safe bet for him. The AIADMK and the DMK are not contesting the seat, having left it to their allies. Kamal’s main opponents are Vanathi Srinivasan, president of the BJP Mahila Morcha, businessman Mayura Jayakumar of the Congress and industrialist R. Doraisamy of the AMMK. Doraisamy, who won in 2011 on an AIADMK ticket, could prove to be the biggest challenge for Kamal. “We are getting so much attention because Kamal is contesting from here," said Srinivasan.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, MNM vice president R. Mahendran had polled nearly 1.3 lakh votes in Coimbatore, spoiling the chances of the BJP’s C.P. Radhakrishnan. He got 23,838 votes in the Coimbatore South assembly segment. “We identified 30 constituencies for nammavar. And Coimbatore was on top of the list,” said Mahendran, who has chosen Singanallur, which is next to Coimbatore South. “Our fight this time is to break the shackles of corruption hurting the state. The new and the young voters are for nammavar as they believe that only he can bring about change,” said Mahendran. Rakshika, a young voter who runs a bakery in the posh R.S. Puram neighbourhood, said Kamal could win as there was no DMK or AIADMK. “People like me who look for a change will vote for him," she said.
The MNM has attracted several prominent faces recently, including V. Ponraj, who was scientific adviser to former president Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, retired IPS officer A.G. Mourya and IAS officer Santhosh Babu, who quit his job alleging corruption by the AIADMK government. Kamal feels that they will attract more elite voters to the party. Ponraj, the party’s candidate for the Anna Nagar constituency, has considerable experience in reaching out to young entrepreneurs and social media groups. He claims to have brought in at least 1.5 lakh youngsters to the MNM. Santhosh Babu, who is contesting from Velachery, and Ponraj have contracted Covid-19 and are running a digital campaign.
Kamal has been closely associated with NGOs, women self-help groups, social reform activists and environmental activists. Some of them, like social activist Sneha Mohandas, who shot to fame after being selected to manage Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Twitter account on the International Women’s Day in 2019, and environmental activist Padma Priya, who recently ran into a controversy by criticising the reservation system, are contesting on MNM tickets. “We are exploring new territories by tapping the support base of the youth and the non-voters. We want to bring in change by eliminating corruption,” said Senthil Arumugam of the Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, which has joined hands with the MNM against corruption and the liquor lobby. He said the MNM believed in identifying and bringing in the 30 per cent voters who always stayed away from elections.
Kamal is expected to take away a part of the anti-incumbency vote, which would have otherwise gone to the DMK. Coupled with the support of a significant section of the urban middle-class and a chunk of the first-time voters, the MNM could turn out to be crucial in determining the winner in many constituencies. “In an election where victory can be determined by a few thousand votes, Kamal is definitely a spoiler. This is obvious with the alliance he has formed,” said Ramu Manivannan, head of the department of politics and public administration at Madras University.
“Ours is not the third front. It is the first front,” Kamal said in a news conference recently when asked whether his alliance would make an impact in the elections. Despite his confidence, the MNM has not been able to attract the interest of major parties and fronts. There was talk that the Congress and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, which were dissatisfied with the number of seats offered by the DMK, would join hands with the MNM. But both parties finally chose to remain with the DMK. Kamal even gave an open call to Vijayakanth’s Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) after it quit the AIADMK alliance. But the DMDK chose to go with T.T.V. Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam.
As of now, the only parties to join the MNM alliance are actor Sarathkumar’s All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi, which banks on the Nadar votes in Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi, and Perambalur MP T.R. Paarivendhar’s Inthiya Jananayaga Katchi. Kamal is unhappy that not many parties have joined hands with him. The inability to forge a formidable alliance has dented his image as a serious politician. His future in Tamil Nadu politics will be clearer after the elections, as he is yet to carve out a unique space for him and his party.