Kamal Haasan ends suspense by saying he will be launching his own political party. Following his meeting with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, speculation had been rife that he would join the CPI(M). The buzz was fuelled by his recent criticism of the AIADMK and DMK working president MK Stalin. Actor Kamal Haasan has ended the guesswork over his political entry, saying he will form his own political party as none of the existing ones can provide a platform for his “reformatory” ideology. He would be an influencer from outside for Hindutva politics.
Similarly, one more actor of Tamil Cinema, MGR all of a sudden announced his political entry. He was a member of the Congress Party till 1953. In 1953 MGR joined the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) attracted by founder C.N. Annadurai. He became a vocal Tamil and Dravidian nationalist and prominent member of the DMK. He added glamour to the Dravidian movement, which was sweeping Tamil Nadu. MGR became a member of the state Legislative Council in 1962. At the age of 50, he was first elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in 1967.
After the death of his mentor, Annadurai, MGR became the treasurer of DMK in 1969 after Muthuvel Karunanidhi became the Chief Minister. He proved himself equally as a politician and actor. There are many film personalities including Jayaram Jayalalithaa who became successful actor turned politician. She served six terms as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for over 14 years between 1991 and 2016. From 1989, she was the General Secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), a Dravidian party whose cadre revered her as their Amma (mother), Puratchi Thalaivi (revolutionary leader) and Thanga Tharagai (golden maiden). In this race Kamal Haasan will now start a new innings, but the question is that, will he succeed like his other Tamil counterparts?
Kamal and his close allies are very keen in breaking the Dravidian strong hold using this opportunity of entering in politics. If they succeed, probably it’s the end of Dravidian politics. He has urged to match his reformatory goals in politics. The actor believes that the sacking of VK Sasikala as the General Secretary of the ruling AIADMK was a “solid step forward”. As he was extremely vocal about getting rid of her, when she was arrested and ousted from party politics, Haasan felt a little more encouraged in his belief that the politics of Tamil Nadu can change. And he wants to bring about that transformation, no matter how slowly it may be.
Kamal Haasan, who is currently hosting the Tamil edition of reality show Bigg Boss, had also recently said that “saffron” was not his colour, a veiled reference to the BJP and RSS. He is still in the planning phase and discussing ideas. He is keen to enter politics but is currently looking at starting a movement to gauge public support before taking the final plunge. Else he may go the Kejriwal way in Tamil Nadu. There are many aspects that need to be addressed if he enters politics; the actor is known for his unpredictable actions and eccentric behaviour. But still politics is not film, if he gets rejected then he may fail as an actor. Kamal has been making noises on floating a party. If he does due diligence, he will realise that this is a mammoth task – starting a party and running it across Tamil Nadu. If it’s raw emotion that’s guiding him, he should seek advice of wise leaders. His entry into politics comes at a time when superstar Rajinikanth too said he is holding discussions but will take a decision when the time is right. So the two superstars have been making headlines as the state government remains a mute spectator and the DMK says both are welcome to join the party. So only time will tell if both have determination to make political debuts and float their parties.
Never before has Kamal voiced his anger on politics in such a furious manner.
The crazy part here is, it’s not just Kamal, there is a queue of people possessing the same ideologies joining the party in support of OPS. It is more likely that Kamal Haasan will enter politics he starts to understand the need of the hour and the pulse of the people. He was probably the first to turn his fan clubs into a community welfare club and often raised his voice for social needs. All these days he kept himself out of mainstream politics for whatsoever reasons, but he may be forced to enter due to the subpar state of affairs mostly caused by local politicians and religious opportunists bloomed out of nowhere. Tamil Nadu has gone down ever since the demise for former Chief Minister J Jayalalitha, and no true resurrection has happened. It is a matured, non-religious state, developed and progressive in many ways. In an unusual time, where people suddenly lost the sense of belonging, and looking forward for the right leadership who can lead them, Kamal Haasan perfectly fits the bill and even has slight edge over his counterpart and actor Rajinikanth. On the other hand, if he doesn’t enter politics, it will be a great crime of wasting all his ability to serve people with his wisdom.
With power comes responsibility. Kamal has great power. He must responsibly take a decision for the sake of people. Actors turning politicians is not new for Tamil Nadu or India. But the most important factor which we need to think right now is about their ideologies towards politics. Let’s hope with Kamal Haasan entering mainstream politics, Tamil Nadu may witness some concrete change in current political scenario.
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