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A dress-rehearsal for elections
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader MK Stalin’s recent out-reach programme is an obvious dress-rehearsal for the next Tamil Nadu Assembly elections due in a few months.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
The event caught the fancy of the media, more so the visual media ever looking for optics, because it was a first of its kind though not so uncommon in the rest of the country where politicians are easily accessible to the people.
Stalin has realised that talking to his own party faithfuls through such meetings will bring him no additional votes. So this time, he has sought out first-time voters like college students and other uncommitted voters, who often decide any closely fought election.
Naturally, he shed his traditional dhoti and shirt which have come to be identified with Dravidian leaders, and instead went in for trendy designer trousers and shirts and sometimes, sported T-shirts. The air was informal, unlike in public meetings. He talked less and listened more to the educated middle class.
Dr Anbumani too posed like a Delhi babu, dressed to the nines in suits. Stalin knows that merely sporting a modern look cannot win over new generation of voters who are fed up with the political class. Style can never be a substitute for substance.
In the post-independence period, politicians wore khadi dhotis and shirts to identify with the common.
White doesn’t denote purity:
True the dhoti survived the advent of Dravidian rule in Tamil Nadu. What do we see today? Polyester dhoti and shirt, spotlessly white. But the politician wearing it is far from lily white. We as a nation have sunk to such a depth that even multi-lakh crore scams like 2G do not shock the politicians as much as they do the voter.
Such being the case, the only power the voter has is to change the regime every five years.
In the very first election in the old Madras Presidency that extended upto present-day Odisha, Congress failed to get a majority. Rajaji was called back from retirement to prevent Communist takeover and he got the numbers for the Congress by breaking the Common Wealth Party, forerunner to the present Pattali Makkal Katchi. Right through, only two Chief Ministers got renewed mandates. K Kamaraj ruled for nine years till he moved to New Delhi. And MGR reigned for ten years till his death 1987.
Heads or tails:
Since MGR’s passing the people have been alternating between Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha. One reason why no alternative to the DMK and the AIADMK have emerged in the 50 years and more is the failure of the national parties like the Congress, and BJP, to strike out on their own even it meant losing a couple of elections. It was the college students of Tamil Nadu, who brought about the downfall of the Congress in 1967 and brought the DMK to power on the issue of Hindi imposition, though rice scarcity also played an equally important role.
But today’s youth have only contempt for the political class. Will appealing to the youth with a new and improved dress code do the trick for the opposition parties? Let’s wait and watch!
POLITICOS DRESS UP BASED ON SITUATIONS
If it is an official meeting, then they prefer western suits or well-tailored shirt and trousers. But if it is a campaign at a rural place they try and stick to dhoti to connect with them more. I have a young politico as my client and he told me it is important for him to project an earthy image among masses so that he is not considered unapproachable. At the same time for official meetings he needs to look prim and proper to be taken seriously.
Sulakshana Badani, Image Consultant
NOT INTO POWER DRESSING
I want people to relate to me as a politico and not as an actress from silver screen, when I am out meeting them. I just keep that in mind while dressing for campaigns, party meetings and official functions. It is necessary to keep it as close to ‘real’ as possible. I wear earthy sarees in beige, off-white or cream. But there is never a conscious effort at a power dressing. Also I feel dressing is something very individualistic and should’nt be labelled.
Khushbu Sundar, Congress Spokesperson
Power Dressing
- When K Kamaraj visited the USSR, he wore dhoti, rejecting the suggestion that a suit would be an ideal dress, especially considering the cold weather there.
- CN Annadurai usually wore a dhoti and shirt but when he went abroad, he opted for western suits.
- While we are used to seeing MK Karunanidhi in traditional wear, in the 60s and early 70s, he used to occasionally wear a suit for official functions and while travelling abroad.
- Former Union Minister of Finance P Chidambaram, who is from Tamil Nadu took the dhoti-shirt to the Centre, inspite of his Harvard background.
— The writer is a veteran political commentator
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