How to reject Dynastic Political Entrants ? Part - I

 Now, in the film industry in India, be in Mumbai or in Chennai or in Hyderabad, if a star kid enters the film industry and lacks that special something that makes a star, he or she gets sidelined after a few continuous flops. Examples include - Tushar Kapoor, Jacky Bhagnani, Harman Baweja, Tanisha, Shamitha Shetty, Rinkie Khanna etc. They gracefully slide out of limelight, or resign themselves into acting in secondary characters or move into other professions successfully or sometimes unsuccessfully depending on their education, training, social networking skills (the real world kind- not the online kind) and a big dose of luck. 

But in the politics industry, somehow or the other, the son/daughter somehow clings on to the political industry and makes a living someway or the other until finally the power wielding parent dies, and the party functionaries "clarion" call the "heir" in all the media to come forward to lead the party. This is the format in all the regionally powerful parties and was the same in the centre as well, until the advent and sad reality of Rahul Gandhi. In Maharashtra, in AP, in UP, in Bihar - if the CM's son/daughter is not automatically crowned as the heir due to whatever reason (No natural leadership instinct, Other powerful senior leader is chomping at the bit, CM wants the kid to learn the ropes from the bottoms up, etc ) - they eventually do become the heir to the power in the party. 

The major difference between the two industries is the nature of the game. Movie industry success depends on movie to movie - and the number of other careers that are broken/made in the process of the star kid's flops and hits. But politics is about the long game and several strategies can be played at once - it's not a friday to friday game-changer. And politicians play at the longest game of them all. (See the average age of Chief Ministers across state-lines. Sigh)

The reason for all this above rambling is the current news that the son of Mr. Stalin, CM of Tamil Nadu, previously actor and producer and now MLA is going to be given a ministerial position tomorrow. Now, there is at least one or more better qualified with managerial expertise or several people with more experience and who have served in the party far longer than the son. Compared to when(age at which) Mr. Stalin ascended to the "Throne" and all the hoops he hasn't been asked to jump through like Mr. Karunanidhi made Mr. Stalin do, obviously many people within the party are miffed - but aren't speaking about it. The people outside the party are saying aplenty and the political opponents are basically screaming their heads off about nepotism. To no avail. Because there is no rule/law violation in this instance. Any MLA can be given a ministerial position after all. (And the father with the political clout and know how will surely field his son in a constituency for elections which is a sure shot win for their party.) Just because Mr. Stalin is making his son a minister in his government above so many others better qualified and experienced is just in bad taste. You can't fault someone for bad taste or sue them for acting in bad faith. And so the opponents have to try other tactics. 

Ella Meter-um Voduthu, Amma katchi valukkuthu - Auto meters are running in Chennai. I'm voting for Amma.

I am a Chennai-ite, and this has always meant dealing with auto drivers who are supremely dismissive of their customers, and us getting rides always depended on the rare occurrences of their condescension. This hate-hate relationship of customers with auto drivers was spawned by the drivers being encouraged in their exhortative behaviour by political goondas who owned and rented out thousands of auto-rickshaws.

One of my earliest memories (80’s) is of my father fighting with an auto-driver who agreed to go from Ayanavaram to Shanti Colony (Anna Nagar East) for 10 rupees, but demanded twelve rupees when we were halfway through, near ICF. My father, a man of principle, was unskilled in bargaining but very skilled at getting himself riled up, made the driver stop, paid him a full ten rupees for the half distance and walked my mother and carried me the rest of the way in the hot sun. No experience with auto drivers since has made me change my opinion of them as greedy and always bargain for more than the set kilometer rate, since then. 

But, these days my auto rides in Chennai are accompanied by a sense of surreal and furtive joy that feels like it will be snatched away any moment and I snap back out of my dream into reality where auto fares are back to normal. (Normal = exorbitant, see?). In fact I think that this ‘fair pricing’ won’t last and in fact, can’t last, because it is too good to be true. I walk away from an auto after having paid exactly 32 rupees according to the meter and I wasn't abused in face-turns-blue language and rage? Did the driver just nod politely and proceeded to bend down to start the engine? What the hell has happened to real life and more importantly, can this wonderfulness continue at all?

In an aside - Is that a vague sense of guilt I feel when I pay the price on the meter, like I have cheated the auto driver of his deserved extra (for which they usually work hard by arguing and playing a great game of negotiation) money?

Thanks to Amma, our own puratchithalaivi Ms.J.J, we pay what fair prices for auto rides as of the last one-two months, and the disbeliever that I am, I don’t think this will last. Regime change will happen, because while for me this is a change/difference big enough to re-vote her into office, it is not for a lot of people. Or the RTO offficers that are hounding these auto-wallas if they spot one without a re-calibrated meter now because of pressure from their bosses who are under pressure from Amma, will soon lose steam, because that is what normally happens, and slowly the meters will go into disuse and the earlier negotiation system will come back into force again. And normalcy will return. 

Demo - crazy?

So, the AIADMK has won a clear majority in the TN Assembly elections. As an ex-newsreader at Jaya TV, I must admit I am pleased. No more speeches about the 'minority DMK government' and its monstrosities that go on for pages and pages on the teleprompter, that has made even the most loyal party man/woman groan in boredom.

But more importantly, I am pleased because the big family has been doing some major levels of damage all over, sucking the country dry of currency. 2G being just one atrocity in a huge bale of hay. I mean, see the obvious, most visible industry of all. The three movie production houses, two of which were not even formed five years ago, raking in crores, because distributors were scared shit less to say no to the prices demanded, and when they did out of self preservation, then another arm of the family itself started distributing the substandard entertainment they were putting out, transferring the burden of debt and suicidal thoughts one step down the ladder, to theatre owners.

Threatening a rich a-list actor who stubbornly keeps away from award functions and making him attend one to prove political might? Seriously? What were they thinking? When the actor proved that he had a spine and spoke about it to a live audience, immediately, using plausible deniability, they were saying 'we had no clue that people were using our names to make you come here', and 'We will look into this disaster, accept our apologies' to save face.

Highways are nasty all over the state. Emergency response for accidents are a joke here. Public schools have no standards to measurement, and the teachers there are apathetic to their students' needs, the list is endless in all spheres under governance. But, one hears things about how big the house of a certain Chennai based MP is. He has gates from his property directly opening into four important lanes in the Adyar boat club area. His house takes up an entire block in other words. Phone lines- BSNL phone lines routed, numerous lines, to his house, and were used for the office purposes of the family's television channel.

Everyone wonders why a minister, unconnected to the family was allowed to make off with lakhs of crores? Think again. The said minister and one female family member were supposed to have been lovers. Whether that rumour is true or not (It is big secret- which is that everyone in TN suspects it- no publication will say anything other than hint around it), it begs several question - why would a non-family member be allowed to take a huge chunk of the spoils? What do they have on him that they know he will not betray them? and If there was such a big loss to the government - how can it ever be recovered? And what kind of internal family politics has led to the female being made the 'fall woman" when clearly if there were to have been benefits from the scam, it would all have been shared in proportion?

So, coming back to Amma, clearly, no matter what AIADMK says, it was a case of voting out the DMK than the need to bring any one specific party in. But,if people had voted randomly to promising independents or small parties with clearer agendas, they know what will happen. If the opposition party had not been voted in with a majority, the DMK would have found ways to bring in all the victorious independents, and the small small parties to its side, with money or threats (Just thinking of the Madurai arm of the party makes people quake int heir boots), and formed the government again. So, the need to elect AIADMK with a clear idea to kick out the reigning party.

What will happen in the next five years, I wonder. Clearly, there will be corruption. But how much and how obvious will it be? Bad enough to vote the DMK back in? Or will Amma keep a lid on how much her ministers and MLAs are looting? Will fulfilling all their election promises within a year and a half- as she has promised be enough to keep the people in line for the remaining three and a half years? ( Many people, on hearing this 1.5 year promise hoot with laughter. Because the state treasury is supposed to be empty. Since it was emptied by the DMK for unnecessary park building, new assembly building constructions- with expensive fake and real roofs, while the old one is perfectly functional and a historical landmark to boot,  lining the pockets, building fancy libraries, instead of reinforcing infrastructure of existing libraries. Anyway, since the treasury is very low on resources -Amma will be going to visit Mr. Pranab shortly is what I predict. Just watch.)

Anyway - If the public remembers- they usually don't - in 2016- will the vote be in DMK's favour? Or will they vote in the DMDK - Vijaykanth's party- because the AIADMK is going to do exactly what the DMK did and earn ill-will in the next five years? Will Vijaykanth, with all his newbie-ness in politics, be seduced by the crores of public money he can take for himself, or try to be true to his hero image - of goodness, moral uprightness and all things incorruptible? Time will tell. It is going to be interesting to watch in any case what the next five years will bring.

But - Does any one politician care for the welfare of the state? Will there ever be a person with nothing but development of the state in mind? Someone who started like Chandrababu Naidu in Hyderabad, but also maintained steam till the end and distributed his/her efforts all over the state instead of just the cities? I wonder, I wonder.