Star campaigners heat up poll scene in Tamil Nadu

The star candidates contesting from various constituencies take into account factors like individual clout or popularity, community strength, voter percentage recorded in the previous elections and others. Kamal Hassan, Dinakaran, Khusbhoo and many others are trying to woo voters and have heated the poll scene in Tamil Nadu.

Chennai: Cinema and politics are interlocked in Tamil Nadu since the 1950s. Be it the former Chief Minister J Jayalalitha or the DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi, all have worked in the cinema and started their political debut. Even political parties turn to celebrities from Kollywood during the elections for the campaigns to woo voters.

The star candidates contesting from various constituencies take into account factors like individual clout or popularity, community strength, voter percentage recorded in the previous elections and others.

AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa, in her chequered political career, contested in various constituencies ranging from Bodinayakanur in the Theni district to RK Nagar in Chennai. Every time she chose a constituency, she ensured that a thorough and threadbare analysis of all factors that had the potential of earning her success in the constituency concerned was done meticulously.

The same is the case with DMK patriarch the late M. Karunanidhi who was credited with winning all elections he had contested. Harbour, Saidapet, Anna Nagar, and Chepauk –all in Chennai – and Kulithalai (constituency where he had a maiden electoral battle way back in 1957) were a few noteworthy constituencies where he fought it out, defeating his rivals.

Star candidates in this election

In the Assembly elections scheduled for April 6, 2021, the president of the Makkal Needhi Maiam Kamal Haasan, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazham general secretary TTV Dinakaran, DMK Youth Wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin, chief coordinator of the Naam Tamilar Katchi Seeman, treasurer of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazham Premalatha and wife of party chief Vijayakanth and actor-turned-politician Khushboo are the star candidates in the media limelight. They seem to have chosen their respective constituencies where they have found winning chances brighter than anywhere else.

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Why Kamal has chosen Coimbatore (South)

At a time when all eyes were on Kamal Haasan, the actor-turned-politician, speculations were rife that he could contest from a constituency in Chennai, he scotched all rumours plumping for Coimbatore (South), raising several eyebrows. He was also speculated to go all the way to his home turf – Paramakudi in Ramanathapuram district - to make his maiden entry into the Assembly. But finally, it is Coimbatore (South) where he is contesting, taking on BJP woman candidate Vanathi Srinivasan, and has been in a war of words bordering on the cinematic now, on the dramatic now and on the eloquent now.

The major contributing factor to his selection of this constituency is the psephological factor that the Coimbatore region, fondly called ‘Kongu mandalam’. The seat has an urban face and gave his party over one lakh votes in the 2019 parliamentary elections – much more than any other constituency did in Tamil Nadu. So, he has factored in the urbanites’ support, pinning no hopes on rural belts where he is seemingly down in the popularity graph.

From RK Nagar to Kovilpatti

AMMK leader Dinakaran has switched his camp to Kovilpatti in Thoothukudi district from RK Nagar in Chennai where he tested his maiden electoral success in the 2017 by-election, allegations of using the ‘cash for vote’ formula notwithstanding. The success prospects beckoning him from the over-600-km distance, he has boldly chosen to try his luck for the second time, this time from the southern constituency, drawing hope and inspiration from the fact that his party had recorded 8 per cent vote in Tuticorin Lok Sabha constituency (under which Kovilpatti falls) in the 2019 parliamentary elections.

In the local body elections too, his party has earned 13 councillors in the Kayathar panchayat union near Kovilpatti, taking both DMK and AIADMK by shock. All this was attributed to the influence of his supporter Manickaraj. So, armed with all these factors and the support from his own community, he has now thrown in his lot with Kovilpatti.

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Will Udhayanidhi’s maiden attempt to win him laurels?

When word was around that son of DMK president Stalin and grandson of party patriarch Karunanidhi, Udhayanidhi Stalin, Youth Wing secretary, was going to take an electoral plunge in 2021, the grapevine had it that he would contest from his ancestral home town and Karunanidhi’s constituency Tiruvarur. Or he would be in the fray in the DMK bastions Thousand Lights or Chepauk-Triplicane. Then speculation about the latter has come true.

The most favourable factors about the Chepauk-Triplicane constituency are that it was from here that Karunanidhi had won three times and the constituency had a majority of minority voters.

Seeman in Tiruvottriyur

In a total somersault of his earlier wish that he would contest from Kolathur to take on Stalin, Seeman, chief coordinator of Naam Tamilar Katchi, has now chosen Tiruvottriyur in the north Chennai, seeking the voter mandate to start his legislator career. The major factors that drove his decision are the good support that he thinks his party has earned among fishermen and youth who make up major chunks of the voters in this constituency.

Premalatha wants to replicate hubby’s success

Premalatha, the DMDK candidate, has taken the risk of contesting from Vriddachalam in the hope that the voters, who had gifted success to her husband and party leader Vijayakanth in 2006 when the party was just a six-month-old infant, would show the same warmth and kindness to her. It was the constituency where her husband daringly contested successfully, going it alone in the 2006 Assembly elections. It is this factor that has boosted her hope along with her community votes.

Khushboo in ‘Thousand Lights’

BJP candidate and actor Khusboo is contesting from Thousand Lights in Chennai. Though Chepauk was the constituency where she intended to contest from, it went out of her reach, going to the allied party. So, left with ‘Thousand Lights’, she is reaching out to voters, face lighting up with the hope that the elitist sections and urbanites will not let her down.

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Ground reality

Hyderabad Central University professor and political observer Tirunavukkarasu, speaking to the ETV Bharat, said, “The star candidates always choose their constituencies, based on their own community support and their past electoral experiences. Shunning these factors, Khushboo seems to be banking heavily on the urban voters’ support. With her urban and urbane looks, she can’t contest anywhere but Chennai.”

Similarly, Kamal Haasan is in the fray in Coimbatore (South), hoping to garner the support of the Keralites living there. Dinakaran counts on Kovilpatti, having a faith in his own community people’s backing. As far as Premalatha is concerned, she totally falls back on the historical fact that her husband Vijayakanth was able to ride the crest of victory, sandwiched though he was between the two Dravidian titans, he said.

“Every candidate chooses his/her constituency only after several stages of study and analysis of all factors involved. Even though he/she fails, they will try to garner as considerable a number of votes as possible,” Tirunavukkarasu observed.

The electoral history is replete with examples of great personalities having bitten dust. Tamil Nadu was witness to the failures encountered by Kamaraj, Annadurai, Jayalalithaa, Vijayakanth, Stalin and thespian Sivaji Ganesan in the electoral battles.

So, it is a universally accepted truth that howsoever great and popular the candidates are, whatever skilful calculations they do and undo, and whatever solutions they find to the arithmetic problems, ultimately in a democracy it’s the people – the people alone - the real kings, who hold the answer key.

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