JUST SPAMMING | To Stir Out Or Keep Indoors Is The Question

After the calamity at Karur on September 27, it looked that there would be a tectonic shift in the State’s political dynamics. The fledgling Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), in whose campaign meeting the tragedy struck taking a toll of 41 lives, including that of children, became the cynosure of all eyes and was perceived as one triggering a total realignment of political forces in the State that is all set to go to polls in less than a year. Of course it was a sheer speculation, prompted by some courteous gestures towards the TVK, which was in the thick of a storm, and an apparent wooing by political parties.

Of course, that period after the Karur catastrophe was the darkest hour for the TVK ever since it was launched more than a year ago with much fanfare. No political party would have come under such a cloud even before it could fight its maiden election or even get an exclusive election symbol for it. The social media driven public opinion was fully against him for a variety of reasons – one of them being that he scooted the meeting venue in Karur even after knowing that people were dropping dead like nine pins – and there was a concerted effort to paint Vijay and his party in a bad light. It was in that darkest hour, some political parties reportedly, or shall we say allegedly, made their overtures.

A popular perception, fuelled by a free for all media opinion, was that the 2026 Assembly elections would be won by the party that aligns itself with the TVK, which has a massive following of youth. When that formidable force of youth power – whatever it actually is and is capable of achieving in the political arena notwithstanding – was visibly on display at Karur drawing the attention of many political parties that are desperate to broaden their vote bank. So, despite the bad name that the jostling unruly crowd brought to Vijay in the aftermath of Karur, parties saw a prospect of getting their votes in the elections through an alliance with TVK.

So the wooing began and Vijay, who had been spurning all advances by most of the political parties till then by saying that he would take the call later, started acknowledging the overt wooing by standing by the party. Apart from the usual suspects like the AIADMK and BJP taking a pro-TVK stand on the stampede, which in popular perception was caused by the inefficiency of the overambitious TVK honchos, including Vijay himself, to absolve the new party of any wrong-doing, even Congress leader Rahul Gandhi spoke to him from north America.

It was immediately publicized that Rahul Gandhi, on his return to India, would reestablish contact with Vijay, giving room for speculations on the Congress ditching the DMK alliance and shacking up with the TVK. Since a few insignificant incidents prior to that had indicated that some Congress leaders were resenting its alliance with the DMK, it was speculated that Rahul Gandhi could tie up with Vijay. However the other suitors like the AIADMK and BJP were not backing out and remained in the line to draw Vijay’s attention, hoping that the Congress would not sever ties with the DMK. The general assumption was that Vijay would give in to the charms of one of the parties and bring about a political realignment.

Even as those suitors were keeping their fingers crossed, Vijay, who had confined himself to his mansion for a month, stepped out to meet the relatives of the victims of the stampede, of course drawing widespread criticism for the selection of the venue for the rendezvous and the manner in which it was carried out. In fact, everything that Vijay has been doing as a novice politician has been brought to scrutiny, mainly in the social media, where an industry thrives on the business of nitpicking on the actor-turned politician and also the honchos he had hand-picked to run his party. So when attempts were allegedly made by the TVK honchos to organize a meeting of the dear ones of those who perished in the stampede on September 27 in Karur, they were unable to do it. They claimed that one marriage hall refused to do the booking on any date and another one returned the advance money that it had taken citing the unruly behavior of the party’s youth force. But social media critics were skeptical about the claims.

Whatever was the truth, the TVK finalized the rendezvous neither in Karur nor in his office in Panaiyur, where he normally meets people, but at a posh beach resort in Mahabalipuram, prompting another round of criticism. He transported the families to the resort, arranged for their overnight stay and then met them. That he wept, that he was apologetic and that he even touched their feet were among the nuggets of information that leaked out from the closed door encounters that sparked another round of accusations. Why did he call them to his room in the resort and why did he not address them collectively? Well, for the TVK it was a sort of closure that also puts to rest all speculations about its future swings. But what does Vijay plan to do in a strange political environment that blames him for not stirring out of home and also slams him if he comes out.