JUST SPAMMING | Modern Trends In Politics Can Be Appalling, Too

As Tamil Nadu politics shifts to overdrive in the run up to the 2026 Assembly election, which has assumed a certain significance, a modern trend emerges from what is assumed to be the electoral battlefield. It has been happening for quite some time as most parties have started ‘campaigns’ without even naming the candidates they expect the voters to pick. Of course, it is an indication of the emergence of the political system in which the head honcho is supreme. It may, in some way, belittle liberal democracy because it tells us not to bother about the particular person one is asked to vote for but just look at the charisma of the leader who has fielded the candidate.

Though such a system has come into vogue a long time ago against the basic principle of our democracy, in which we are expected to cast our vote based on the capability and integrity of the individual whom we could trust and rely on for bringing in changes in our life. We do not elect the head of the government directly as in many other countries but vote for our representative in the decision making bodies. But now that form of liberal democracy has lost its value and it is a one-man show that we love to watch unfold before us. Even modern campaigns, aided by media coverage, perpetuate such a form of democracy where people choose the leader who would run the government and not for ideology or principles.

However, we never demurred despite our democratic system veering towards authoritarianism with the leaders acting independently to their own whims and fancies because as a society we believed more in hero worship than in collective action But now, as the State prepares to step into 2026, we find the hero-worship taking absurd forms. Not only are the heroes berating about the reverence that they get without mentioning the reasons behind it but express hopes over the voters standing by them though they have no proven track record in politics or public service or social engagement. People should vote for the leader just like that without any rhyme or reason, even the party followers say.

As a young ardent acolyte of Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) went on record in front of whirring cameras at Erode last week that she would poison her entire family of nine if they failed to vote for her party. She was at the meeting addressed by the founder and president Vijay but did not quote any of his statements or proposed policies or principles that made her believe that Vijay would make a better Chief Minister of the State than the other contenders. She did not clearly elucidate what greatness she saw in Vijay that she feels that her family members not supporting him deserved to be exterminated. In fact no one who had turned up at the bustling show of strength at Erode would have been able to even explain the purpose of their presence there other than to be present there to ‘see’ their hero who they would also vote for.

Though the party has seemingly turned wiser by not insisting that it would hold the meeting only in roads with no space to accommodate the crowd and moved to a sprawling ground to avoid congestion, there was no indication of the party supporters changing. One young man who climbed over a tall structure refused to climb down from the dangerous perch until Vijay gave him a ‘kiss,’ which indeed was new to Tamil Nadu politics. A party follower blackmailing his leader to give him a ‘flying kiss’ has never been heard of in any other party lore, though the State has seen supporters laying down their lives for their leaders or physically harming themselves.

In the present form of hero worship, people cherish moments that help them get as much close to Vijay or take a selfie with him. They proudly flaunt the risks they had taken for that like that woman who was spotted running alongside the vehicle of Vijay. She had come in a group, all the women adorning the signature shawl of the party . Her compatriot proudly proclaimed that the woman had tested positive in the pregnancy test taken a week earlier and was told to not exert much since she had taken years to conceive. But the compatriot was proud that her sister took such a grave risk to prove her admiration for Vijay and the woman, who perhaps closely missed an abortion, was nodding proudly and triumphantly for having kept pace with the Vijay’s vehicle.

Another couple had come to the meeting with two children, one of them four years and the other just nine months old. When a reporter asked why they took such a risk, endangering the safety of children when their party itself had warned them against attending the meeting with infants, the couple were cool about it saying that they could not miss seeing Vijay. It was to such crowds that Vijay spoke at the meeting, drawing applause. So he was able to say anything that he felt like uttering. He said the dropout rate in Tamil Nadu was increasing despite modern data proving otherwise. He did not touch upon contemporary problems like the move to scrap the rural employment guarantee scheme or the controversy raging at Thiruparankundram hills. But the crowds just cheered for it did not know what their leader was speaking and that was what precisely appalling.