Ideologies fade in ballot battle as leaders ‘worship’ for votes

The April 18 election was no exception. Party ideologies have been pushed to the backseat already. Sworn atheists have gladly invoked the almighty and hardcore Hindutva leaders turned secular in the poll, all to win the number game.

Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan of BJP, an RSS pracharak, who had happily shared images of his participation in RSS sakha till a while ago, has warmed up to his Christian brethren in Kanniyakumari to win votes. A die-hard RSS cadre, Radhakrishnan was reportedly spotted falling on the feet of Christian priests.

On the other side of the political balance, DMK candidate Kanimozhi, a self-proclaimed rationalist, who takes pride in recalling her father’s ideological mentor Periyar at almost every instance, did not mind invoking the almighty. The Rajya Sabha MP pitted against BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan was seen receiving ‘tamboolam’ (Pooja offerings) from priests in her makeshift election war room in Thoothukudi. And there were the usual players like BJP national secretary H Raja who performed special poojas to outplay his rivals in the battle of ballots. Raja was learnt to have performed “Sathrusamharam” (winning over the enemies) pooja along with his wife in a local temple to outdo his rival Karti Chidambaram, who had sought the blessings of another local deity at Tirumayam in Sivaganga, to better his electoral prospects.

Unsurprisingly, the Twitterati did not take the sudden swing in loyalty of the wannabe MPs lightly. Social networking sites were abuzz with comments criticizing the ‘opportunism’ of the candidates.

A trip down the memory lane would suggest that Tamil Nadu was not new to such sudden bout of spirituality and communal harmony in election seasons. The best of surprises was sprung by DMK president MK Stalin in 2016 Assembly polls. Stalin had visited temples and churches in equal measure to win the voters. Of course, not without courting controversies.

A visit to a gathering of Brahmin priests in Kancheepuram and Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health and wiping off the ‘Kumkum’ applied by a group of priests outside a renowned temple in Tiruchy region kept tongues wagging in the right-wing constituency in the run up to the Assembly election then.