Chasing a Mirage: Appropriating MGR legacy or an Image Trap

It is a legacy for which there are many claimants, especially during election time. Every actor with political ambitions could not resist the temptation of attempting to appropriate the legacy of AIADMK founder and three-time Chief Minister MG Ramachandran (MGR). Earlier, Vijayakanth, who launched his DMDK party, portrayed himself as the 'Black MGR'. But, he could not succeed. Even Jayalalithaa, his political heir, had jettisoned her mentor and consolidated her own support base by cultivating dominant OBC communities. Now, more than three decades after his death, the BJP, Rajinikanth who is yet to Christen his party, and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) president Kamal Hassan have been making efforts to appropriate the late iconic actor to reach out to the masses, inviting the wrath of an apprehensive AIADMK. What compels them to engage in appropriation despite the aura of MGR being on the wane? Are they falling into an image trap, writes, MC Rajan Bureau Chief, ETV Bharat, Tamil Nadu.

Chennai: For wannabe netas aspiring for the Chief Minister's gaddi of the Dravidian heartland, laying claim to the legacy of MGR has almost become a rites of passage. Come elections, the ghost of MGR gets resurrected in Tamil Nadu. Despite a generational change among the electorate, trying to ride on his charisma is irresistible for parties and leaders. Now, the campaign for the 2021 assembly poll has already witnessed the BJP, Rajinikanth and Kamal Hassan all attempting to appropriate MGR as their own, rattling the ruling AIADMK.

Unlike in the past, the contenders for the MGR legacy this time around pose a threat to the AIADMK as they might eat into the Dravidian major's vote share.

Bereft of any local icon in its pantheon, the BJP had started using MGR of late. In its recently concluded 'Vel Yatra' and other campaigns, the saffron party had prominently displayed MGR's portrait. It's justification was that MGR is a public asset and no particular party could claim ownership.

“MGR had great concern for women and is popular among them. Modi too displays such concern and is implementing programmes for their uplift. MGR was conferred Bharat Ratna. Like any leader or writer whose works have been nationalised, MGR is no more a private property of any one party,” was how Vanathi Srinivasan, BJP Mahila Morcha national president, countered the AIADMK criticism.

Even before the elections, it was superstar Rajinikanth who asserted that his motto was to provide 'MGR's Good Governance'. That was in 2018, the birth centenary of the late icon. “There is a vacuum for a good leader in Tamil Nadu. I cannot be an MGR. But, I can assure that I can provide the good governance that he had given,” the film star had said after unveiling a statue of the late icon at a private university. His fans and supporters have started equating him with MGR.

Not to be left behind, versatile actor and MNM founder Kamal Hassan too has joined the bandwagon asserting that none other than him could lay claim to the legacy of MGR since he had grown on his lap. True, as a child actor, he had acted in films along with the late matinee idol. Having launched the campaign ahead of others and drawing huge crowds, he continues to touch upon his association with the late leader in his speeches.

“Gandhi is my grandpa and I am MGR's heir. Those who work for the betterment of people alone can lay claim to that. I am not invoking MGR for the sake of elections. MGR is the jewel of the people. Our very first slogan has been 'Naalai Namathe' (Tomorrow is Ours – a title of an MGR blockbuster). We have the same concern he had for the poor and hence, we are an extension of him,” Hassan said at a road show on the city outskirts on Monday in his rebuttal to the AIADMK.

Even as there is a renewed interest in appropriating MGR's legacy, analysts maintain that the MGR vote bank has shrunk over the years and his appeal too has been on the wane. Though a three-time Chief Minister, the state had not witnessed industrial development and he had many flip-flops to his credit, it is pointed out. As such, what then are these claimants hoping for?

“MGR's rule was authoritarian and the state had then turned into a police state. There was student unrest on a massive scale. His Noon Meal Scheme was an improvisation of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme of Congress stalwart and late Chief Minister K Kamaraj. He brought in income ceiling for OBC reservation and withdrew it after the rout in the 1980 LS polls. Similarly, he proposed shifting of the state capital to Trichy but backed off due to stiff backlash. He died in 1987. Hence, the present efforts at claiming his legacy is nothing but an exercise to ride on his celluloid popularity and deification,” explains Professor Ramu Manivannan, Head of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Madras University. In his opinion, other than his personality, there is nothing like MGR's legacy and the claimants are either chasing a mirage or falling into an image trap.