Comment : Impact of Rajnikant minimal as Jaya refuses to compromise

About two weeks back there was a mild earthquake in Tamil Nadu. Breaking his silence of nearly the last five years, the Tamil cinema superstar Rajnikant came out with a statement that he would be personally voting for the BJP.

All hell broke loose for a couple of days, as this was supposed to be the signal to his large fan following, which extends to even the remotest villages in the State, to support the AIADMK-BJP combine.

The BJP leadership both at the State and the Centre were grinning from ear to ear proud of their "super" catch, and hoping that this single, rather undemocratic announcement, would wipe away whatever other problems the alliance faces in the State, to romp home victorious in the Lok Sabha election scheduled in the State on May 10.

But going by the events in the last ten days, the euphoria of the BJP leaders seemed to have been a tad too premature.

The reclusive superstar, who hardly looks like one nowadays, with his scraggy unkempt grey beard and sometimes in saffron shaded clothes, with a permanent pensive look on his face, went into seclusion.

Known to have become extremely spiritual and religious in the last few years, he took off to faraway Rishikesh near the foothills of the Himalayas to find spiritual solace.

But that was not what bothered the BJP and its leaders. It was the cold-shouldering by the formidable Amma, Chief Minister Jayalalitha, of the superstar's voluntary disclosure of his voting intentions.

Even as the thrilled AIADMK cadres, who understood the political importance of the statement Rajni 'sir', as he is referred to in the film industry, had made and was about to capitalise on it, they found themselves thwarted. Word went around that the posters which they had printed with Rajni and Amma, was a strict "no, no".

The paranoid Jayalalitha and the reclusive star, who live on the same street in Chennai, have had little love lost between them over the years.

Despite sharing the same Karnataka background and both being extremely comfortable in Kannada, they have refused to let it work as a common bonding.

In fact, moody Rajnikant had shown his disinclination towards his equally moody neighbour, during her first stint as chief minister between 1991 and 1996.

Rajnikant's open call to his fans to support the M.Karunanidhi's DMK and G.K.Moopanar's Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) combine in 1996, had spelt doom for Jayalalitha's AIADMK, which had been completely swept out, along with its ally Congress.

She has never forgotten the later comments of Rajnikant that he would not like to see her as chief minister again.

So when he made that statement two weeks back, that he would vote for BJP, she did not take it as him supporting her automatically, correctly perhaps.

In fact, even Rajnikant was pretty careful in making that statement, as he spoke only of BJP, and refused to mention anything about its alliance partner.

Rajni apparently is swayed, like millions of others, by the personality of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He even gave a local twist to his choice, by appreciating the efforts of Vajpayee to link the various rivers of India, and said, that this would solve the Cauvery problem.

But he had nothing to say about his fans voting for AIADMK, which the latter's cadres presumed. No wonder their Amma rapped them on the knuckles.

But it has not stopped the AIADMK cadres and even some of the leaders from hoping that she would be more flexible, especially considering the formidable seven-party alliance led by DMK, they are up against.

In fact, one of the former MPs, who is the treasurer (how long he will remain one, no one knows!) of the party now, C.Srinivasan has come out openly saying that they have no problem in accepting the offer of support of Rajnikant. However, he is not clear why the lady herself has refused to accept it publicly. "She has certain constraints," he says mysteriously.

Nevertheless, despite him having broken the party's silence, more than ten days after Rajanikant's statement, the uncertainty prevails over whether Rajni meant his vote to BJP also means support to AIADMK, and whether the treasurer's magnanimity in accepting the offer, means his 'puratchi thalaivi' (revolutionary leader) has also accepted it.

This has put the BJP cadres also in a fix, as they are not sure how to approach the problem.

The State BJP leaders have been pleading with Rajnikant to come and campaign for their candidates, but the superstar has not shown any inclination till now, as he is still not back from his spiritual retreat.

And in any case, the BJP is contesting in only seven of the 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.

If even Rajnikant decides to offer more than his vote to the BJP, and refuses to say anything in favour of the AIADMK, the DMK-led front does not have much to bother.

As of now the impact of that mild earthquake is only minimal, as egos of the two of the most famous personalities in Tamil Nadu refuse to compromise!

Girish Nikam is an analyst specialising on South India