An ambitious, yet ambiguous party
Kamal Haasan is trying to fill a vacuum in Dravidian politics
On Wednesday history repeated itself in Tamil Nadu — this time by film maker Kamal Haasan turning to politics. In a grand rally at Madurai, filled with theatrics and photo-ops, Mr Haasan announced the name of his political party and unveiled its symbol. By naming it Makkal Needhi Maiam, roughly translated as Peoples Justice
Forum, Mr Haasan has managed to take a centrist position, leaving himself room to finetune his political views in the days to come. The symbol – of six hands holding one another to form a circle with a star at the centre – represents the six southern states (including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands). This appears to be a covert attempt to position the party squarely in the Dravidian space, while not circumscribing the range of its appeal. However, it isn’t clear how Mr Haasan intends to spread Dravidian philosophy outside Tamil Nadu, where it has found little resonance. These ambiguities make Mr Haasan’s politics both non-committal and ambitious.
By remaining centrist and nursing ambitions to take his party to all states south of the Vindhyas, Mr Haasan has taken it upon himself to be the voice of the Dravidian cause. He seems to be trying to occupy the political vacuum left by the death of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa . The people Mr Haasan met before indicate the political space he is aiming for. He met Rajinikanth, DMK patriarch Karunanidhi, CPI leader R Nallakannu among others, but made it clear that he wouldn’t meet anyone from the ruling AIADMK because it was their corruption and incompetence that forced him to take the political plunge.
It is to be seen if Mr Haasan’s party can attain the critical mass to take on the two big Dravidian parties — AIADMK and DMK. In the last four decades no regional party has managed to do this. DMDK chief Vijayakanth, another actor-turned-politician, came the closest when his party polled close to 10% votes in the 2006 assembly elections. There is a possibility that with a weakened AIADMK, and the two-party system in Tamil Nadu politics coming to an end, smaller parties will get bigger opportunities. If he plays his cards right, this works to Mr Haasan’s advantage.