Celebrities in Politics

 

The news emerging from Tamil Nadu is a sort of anti-climax for those who believed some churn happening in Tamil Nadu post the entry of noted film star Rajinikanth into politics. The much awaited entry of Rajini as he is known has turned into a non-starter. Ostensibly on the advice of doctors, Rajini has decided not to venture into politics. For all the suspense he had created and the air of intrigue that was built over, it seemed everything was perhaps speculating in the air. The forthcoming Tamil Nadu elections will be the first after the death of two stalwarts Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi who strode over the state politics for decades. The AIADMK was struggling with the current leadership yet to gain acceptability while Stalin is facing his first independent test in the Assembly elections. With the DMK having a clear edge, Rajini was expected to turn the things around and bring about a new direction in Tamil Nadu politics. He was an outsider whom his fans believed could turn the shape of politics long corrupted by the two Dravidian parties. There is something fascinating about an outsider being talked about as someone to change politics. This goes beyond Tamil Nadu.

 

In Tamil Nadu, Rajini was not a typical outsider. He had interest in politics though he shied away from entering into the same. His famous call for voting DMK-TMC alliance in 1996 to oust Jayalalitha still gets remembered today. Yet apart from that, he has kept away from siding with any political parties openly. He had a close association with the BJP leadership at the centre in recent years. Yet he chose to maintain a sort of independent line. The outsider being looked to disrupt political system is not unusual. There are instances in the past wherein such events have occurred. There continue to be calls for celebrity inductions to boost party fortunes in many a state even today. Grapevine suggests that Saurav Ganguly might join BJP in West Bengal. There is considerable speculation that he might be the Chief Ministerial candidate in the state. The fact he hasn’t denied the rumours of joining politics has added fuel to the speculation. In the past ,Capt.Vijaykanth in Tamil Nadu and Chiranjeevi in Andhra Pradesh have made forays into politics building their own party with little success. In both the cases, their inability to sustain the party over multiple election cycles undid their efforts despite a promising debut.

 

Celebrities inducted into politics happens at multiple levels. There have been attempts by some celebrities to form regional parties and contest the elections. Many have proved non-starters despite interest. For instance there was celebrated film actor who wanted to launch a new party in the sixties and the seventies, found response among professionals but the catch was everyone wanted a Rajya Sabha seat and nobody wanted to contest a Lok Sabha election. It will go without saying the party died even before it was born. There is a considerable interest in the celebrities whether from the entertainment world or the world of sports or in the professional circuit. The theory is since there is a resonance among the people about these well known names, it would be relatively easier for them to capture votes and thus win elections. This theory has worked with many film stars do winning elections including Amitabh Bacchhan in 1984 from Allahabad constituency. Sunny Deol was fielded by the BJP from Gurdaspur since it did not have any star candidate who could win the seat, a Congress stronghold. Many parties  do field candidates with high celebrity quotient in seats where they traditionally are not strong. Yet success is hardly guaranteed. For instance wrestlers like Yogeshwar Dutt or Babita Phogat failed to find success in the assembly elections in Haryana in 2019. Similarly, while there has been some interest among the film world in Karnataka politics, no one succeeded. Even Ambareesh could not translate his film celebrity status to successful stint in pan-Karnataka politics.

 

In Tamil Nadu, film actors like MG Ramachandran or Jayalalitha did make it big but to call them direct entrants from film world into the chief ministership would be wrong. Both had long political careers. Their baptism was to say literally by fire and they came out on top in the circumstances prevalent. On the other hand NT Rama Rao had a great start to his political career. He came from nowhere to win the Andhra Pradesh elections in 1983. While he had a touch with politics he had neither contested nor campaigned previously. The lack of non-Congress parties in the state and factional turmoil within the ruling Congress did help him in a big way. In a market for politics, there were no takers in the mainstream allowing a rebel outsider to make a market and cater to the political demands of the population. in fact, it is one of the rare instances in Indian politics wherein an upstart political party came to power in its first electoral attempt. Rajini perhaps would have been trying to do the same in Tamil Nadu but there remained an ambiguity about this political entry throughout. While he had expressed an interest, it had not translated into ground level activity apart from creating some sort of suspense.

 

Yet, celebrities finding success is more of an exception than something of a norm. Instances of Chiranjeevi or Capt Vijaykanth as illustrated above reflect instances where they are simply unable to sustain a momentum beyond an election cycle. Many film actors did win their first elections but faded away soon after. Amitabh Bacchan was a disaster in electoral politics. Dharmendra served only a term before abandoning politics. Bhupen Hazarika made an ill-advised attempt to contest the elections. Shivarama Karanth contested unsuccessfully as an independent. Many sportspersons were interested in politics but developed cold feet at the last minute. To a political party, winning elections is their core activity. They need candidates who have the quotient to win the elections. Celebrities fit that quotient. The immediate objective is then served. It does not matter whether the celebrity candidate adjusts to rough and tumble of politics or fades away. The objective of the immediate electoral cycle is served. The next elections are different ball game requiring a different strategy. Thus a case for celebrities in politics. Yet history points towards fewer successes and more failures.