Can a podcast help ‘Brand Stalin’ go national?

Check, check, check…one, two, three…Aarambikalangala? Vanakkam…That’s how Tamil Nadu chief minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president begins his ‘Thekkillirunthu oru kural’ (voice from the south), a series of social media videos (called ‘Speaking for India’ in English) with an ideological construct aimed at political branding.All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) founder MG Ramachandran began his ideological quest with a regular column ‘Naan en piranthen’ (Why I took birth), though his fans preferred to see him on the silver screen than read his words. DMK leader M Karunanidhi had a more intense connection with his cadres through the ‘Udanpirappukku kaditham’ (Letter to brethren). Stalin has taken the digital route.It was not just the launch of a national political campaign to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) months ahead of the 2024 general election, the campaign seeks to take the idea of ‘Dravidian model’ built on the principles of Periyar Ramasamy, CN Annadurai and Karunanidhi to a national platform. And, in the process, Stalin seeks to emerge as the new-age champion of social justice. To watch/listen to all episodes of 'Speaking for India' Podcast series in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi languages visit the official website: https://t.co/QxIOWAaSwV #Speaking4India வலையொலித் தொடரின் அனைத்து அத்தியாயங்களையும் தமிழ், தெலுங்கு, மலையாளம், கன்னடம், இந்தி… https://t.co/I5ZTWN9Dkf

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) September 4, 2023 Tamil Nadu industries minister and DMK IT wing secretary TRB Rajaa explains: “We call him a ‘Dravida Nayagan’ not because of his ethnicity but because of the reference to the model of governance. We want to take this Dravidian model of governance across the country.”Even while trying to ‘nationalise’ Dravidian pride, Stalin’s multilingual, multimedia podcast ‘Speaking for India’ seeks to bridge the Dravidian-Aryan divide. This, some insiders say, is also an attempt to remove the vestiges of a secessionist image the DMK had to live with.On September 4, Stalin launched the first of his podcast series batting for the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, accusing the BJP of going back on its poll promises on public welfare schemes and using religion as a weapon to hide its failures.Bridging the divideWorking behind these digital drives are the DMK’s IT wing, more than 100 social media influencers and PEN (Populus Empowerment Network), a year-old organisation of DMK sympathisers.Stalin understands that the content has to suit the context. “We were compelled to dispel the image that we are anti-north. That is how ‘Speaking for India’ began,” says Manikandan Vasudevan who heads the party and electioneering team of PEN. “We want to take the message to Hindi-speaking people that we are not their enemies. Being opposed to Hindi imposition is different from backing Hindi-speaking people. We are seeking state autonomy within India. We are not for separation or secessionism.” medium105256520Rajaa says Stalin is just the person to build this image. “The CM is a versatile, grounded and ideologically driven person. We didn’t have to build anything new, we just had to talk about him,” says Rajaa. “If India grows, Tamil Nadu grows better. A strong India helps make a flourishing Tamil Nadu.”Stalin has no ambition to be the prime minister, says Rajaa, pointing out the many times the CM has reiterated it. “His only intent is to take the Dravidian model across the country to ensure women are treated as equals, the girl child gets opportunities and there is social justice,” says the minister.So, what do INDIA bloc members think of Stalin’s experiment? “Local political compulsions like the flip-flop poll outcomes in Tamil Nadu may be the reason for such an initiative,” says an INDIA alliance leader who thinks social justice may not resonate the same way across the country. “For instance, in Bengal, social justice is a distant issue. It would be an exaggeration to say there is no casteism here. But Bengal has gone through the convulsions of social churns and arrived at its own solutions.”Social justice battleThe podcasts are but a digital extension of other efforts. In January 2022, the DMK chief took the lead to constitute the All India Federation of Social Justice that has as members most of today’s INDIA bloc constituents besides proponents of class struggle. In his virtual address at the first national conference of the federation, Stalin accused the BJP of committing “daylight murder of social justice”.The first three episodes of ‘Speaking for India’ have got more than 3.5mn views, and PEN says the engagement is progressively going up. In the second episode, Stalin chose to stress on state autonomy, asking people to repose faith in the INDIA bloc “to save the states”. In the third episode, he exhorted India to comprehensively defeat the BJP.“I ask each and every one of you to take this voice of MK Stalin as the voice of India and spread it everywhere,” he said. medium105256540His speeches are translated into Hindi and several other languages and promoted across social media platforms.“Our work begins the moment Stalin delivers his speech. We have hundreds of followers for our YouTube channels and Telegram groups. They spread the word,” says software engineer and influencer Vignesh Anand. “We don’t work for the DMK. We are the influencers helping to build ‘Brand Stalin’.”On October 21, the DMK organised a ‘2.0 influencers’ meeting where Stalin spent two-and-a-half hours interacting with 2,000 participants. “Social media plays a big picture in selecting topics for media channels. We are trying to set the tone,” says Anand.