CHENNAI: In the 2011 assembly election, when Vijayakanth's
DMDK
aligned with the AIADMK, the front won a massive victory but the two parties fell out soon after. During a particularly heated moment later in the state assembly , Vijayakanth stood up, opened his mouth, stuck his tongue out, raised his right arm and shook his forefinger angrily at the treasury benches a gesture that Tamils often use during a street brawl to say , “Be careful! I'm comin' at ya“. The video went viral and showcased vintage Vijayakanth.Jayalalithaa was livid and castigated him for his “lowly“ gesture. Vijayakanth was, of course, unfazed, and his supporters found nothing amiss.
For his antics, the DMDK leader has been the target of trolls. Vijayakanth, with his cartoonish persona and exaggerated gestures, has been easy prey . But none of this seems to have diminished his mass appeal and nearly all parties, barring possibly the AIADMK, want him on their side.
His own party remains a ragtag outfit. After 2011, his MLAs became easy pickings for the ruling AIADMK. None of his partymen has demonstrated an ability to govern anywhere. The DMDK even lost badly in the local body elections in 2011. But when Vijayakanth starts speaking at public meetings, a smile creeps up on the face of listeners.Many make the mistake of thinking the joke is on him. He does ramble along, talking conversationally in a state that makes a fetish of oratory delivered in literary Tamil and casually throwing sarcastic punches at opponents. But in between his meanderings, he delivers the message of the day; these days, the theme is the alleged misdeeds of the ruling AIADMK and its leader J Jayalalithaa.
And his supporters and partymen -the rural underclass -love every moment of his stagecraft and digest his message, even if the educated urban middle class miss the nuance and misinterpret his goofiness for stupidity. In many ways, Vi jayakanth is the Lalu Yadav of Tamil Nadu -earthy but with a cast-iron connect with the masses.
Vijayakanth and his wife, Premalatha, seem to hunt in a pair. She comes across as the surefooted, clearheaded better half articulating the party's vision better than her husband. She minces no words and has been playing the balancing act in recent times by attacking the DMK virulently .
To the middle classes, Vijayakanth's appeal is a mystery . For sure, he had been a successful actor in a state where film charisma is known to provide a pathway to political success. But he seems to have no particular caste base, besides his fans.Though coming from the Naidu community , he doesn't specifically appeal to any caste groups.
Vijayakanth has no background in Dravidian politics either. His party attracted discards from other parties initially but the cadre and mass base is based solely on his charisma.He seems to profess no original set of beliefs or ideas his proposals and manifestos are merely an extension of Dravidian welfarism. Even the name of his party is a contradiction in terms. Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam stands for National Progressive Dravidian Organization. Originally secessionist but now steadfastly federalist, the Dravidian movement typically baulks at the nationalist tag.
Less than a year after he floated the DMDK, Vijayakanth bagged more than 8% of the vote contesting alone in 2006. The votes his candidates got in many seats were more than the winning margin. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, his voteshare went up to 10%, marking him out as a gamechanger. It was said that Vijayakanth, who was claiming the mantle of MGR, was eating primarily into the AIADMK votebank.
He even made inroads in 2011into the Vanniyar heartland considered the PMK's pocketborough.
In a multi-cornered 2016 election, with no single dominant theme, his votebank, though not always transferable, can be a force multiplier.And Vijayakanth has made the most of the wooing by desperate political parties. From the Left through the BJP to the DMK, everyone wants him and have said so publicly . Vijayakanth keeps dropping hints but seems intent on driving a hard bargain. His sights are set high. He wants to rule the state, no less.
TN has seen many parties that have promised to be alternatives to the two main Dravidian parties.None has succeeded mostly , the two parties ally with them during election in a deathly embrace and smother them. But, after 50 years of Dravidian rule, Vijayakanth is hoping he will buck that trend.