Star campaigners stay clear of poll-bound RK Nagar

But for a few regulars like actor Thiyagu and newsreader Fathima Babu and actor Sundararajan who hit the streets on Sunday evening, the star speakers who had swarmed the same RK Nagar for the last by-poll when late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa won have played truant this time. 

The ruling AIADMK, which has a reputation for engaging star campaigners aplenty, has so far not unleashed the star blitz in RK Nagar this time. A former Kollywood heartthrob who had campaigned for Jayallaithaa’s AIADMK in the past was wary of even discussing if s/he was approached by any party. The reticent actor who did not wish to be named said s/he did not want to be involved in the election, let alone the party. Curiously, the ruling AIADMK has itself to blame for actor’s abstention, courtesy the political imbalance in the party.

Editor of cinema magazine and Dravidian scholar VMS Subagunarajan says, “Most of them are time servers, actors without career, and who support parties or campaign for them for monetary considerations. Actors do not come for political reasons. If the party they campaign for or support loses power, they should return to cinema. An actor like Vadivelu had already burnt his fingers.” 

Another reason for abysmally low turnout of stars was disillusionment of political parties who no longer believe that stars would fetch votes. All but the AIADMK have consciously avoided bringing actors to muster support among masses. One senior DMK leader who did not wish to be named, admitted that they were sure that stars only pull crowd and not influence voters. Seconding the view, Subagunarajan said, “DMK has almost stopped the cinema-politics culture. Other than regulars who are full time members of the party and do party work, the party had consciously decided not to involve actors.”

Some of the actors with whom DTNext interacted were frank in admitting that there was some uncertainty over the longevity of the ruling dispensation and supporting such a party or even any other party could affect them even in the immediate future under the current political circumstance. Their fears could not be dismissed as unfounded if one were to consider the melt down suffered by Vadivelu after the 2011 Assembly poll.