Vijayakanth: 'Black' MGR who dared to take a plunge in TN politics & made a difference

Vijayakanth

Seventy-one year old, actor-politician Vijayakanth, who passed away in Chennai on December 28, had carved out a special place in the hearts of Tamil Nadu voters like actor M G Ramachandran (MGR) and Jayalalitha.

Also he did not waver like superstar Rajinikanth when he decided to do something to fight poverty and corruption, which he did as an action hero in his films.

Vijayakanth’s Foray Into Politics

So when he launched his party Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam (DMDK), he deeply upset the plans of DMK chief M Karunanidhi and AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa as he emerged as a third force in the state in 2006.

His foray saw Karunanidhi unable to secure enough majority in the 2006 assembly elections and forced to form a minority government with the support of allies. His party polled an impressive 8.38 percent vote share as an independent player. By 2009, the DMDK's vote share increased to over 10 percent in the parliamentary elections.

Like MGR, Vijayakanth drew support from women and youth, promising to fight corruption, which came to be associated with the DMK rule under Karunanidhi.

Vijayakanth nurtured a deep antipathy towards Karunanidhi. The buzz was that he could not forgive the DMK because its government had demolished a major portion of his marriage hall in Chennai, which also served as his party headquarters for the construction of a flyover.

In 2011, Vijayakanth made the mistake of entering into an alliance with the AIADMK. His party emerged as the second largest party in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. As Jayalalithaa became CM, Vijayakant, with 29 MLAs, became the Leader of Opposition. But their personal equations nosedived. He openly began to confront Jayalalithaa on many issues on the floor of the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

A livid Jayalalithaa challenged him to contest an election alone to prove his party’s strength. She chided the DMDK, saying that Vijayakanth could not have won even two seats without an alliance with the AIADMK. Later, as a retribution, she ensured defection of his party MLAs including a key leader, Ma Foi K. Pandiarajan, who later became a minister in her cabinet in 2016. Subsequently, many DMDK MLAs joined the AIADMK or the DMK.

However, Vijayakanth chose to plough his own furrow.

Alliance With NDA

When Narendra Modi emerged as the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP, Vijayakanth extended support to him. His party joined hands with Modi as an NDA ally in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Vijayakanth campaigned for the BJP, which brought him closer to Modi. As the PM-elect, Modi recalled the role of Vijayakanth in his first address to the NDA MPs in 2014.

Later, for the 2016 assembly elections, Vijayakanth joined hands with the four-party alliance People’s Welfare Front, and projected himself as the CM candidate.

The front consisted of the Left parties, Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi (VCK) and the MDMK led by Vaiko and the Tamil Maanila Congress led by G K Vasan.

Not only was the front a non-starter, Vijayakanth himself lost his deposit.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the DMDK was part of the AIADMK-BJP alliance. The AIADMK managed to secure only one seat.

Read | Kamal Haasan reacts to Vijayakanth's death: 'Lived with humanity in every action' 

For the 2021 assembly elections, the DMDK went into an electoral deal with T T V Dhinakaran's AMMK but could not win any of the 60 seats it contested. It saw a vote percentage swing of -1.96 percent compared to previous assembly elections. After the elections, the DMK emerged as the ruling party, and the AIADMK emerged as the main party of the opposition.
Over the years, Vijayakanth's health had taken a heavy beating owing to his habits. Therefore, his wife Premalatha emerged as the real head of the DMDK. In fact, Vijayakanth's last public appearance was on a wheel chair on December 13 when Premalatha was formally elected the general secretary of his party.

Vijayakanth’s Legacy

What is the legacy that Vijayakanth leaves behind? In the world of Tamil cinema, Vijayakanth would be remembered for achieving commercial success comparable to MGR and Sivaji and that he stayed afloat despite the emergence of superstar Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan.

Vijayakanth had earned two monikers -- "Karuppu (black) MGR" and "Captain" because of the characters he portrayed in the Tamil cinema. Proud of his dark complexion, Vijayakanth was seen by his fans as an incarnation of MGR. Like him, Vijayakanth took to big time philanthropy and social service. He got the prefix "Captain" to his name because of the role of a police officer in his 100th film, Captain Prabhakaran, where he played the role of a daring police officer in pursuit of bad characters.

As for the politics in Tamil Nadu, Vijayakanth would be recalled for being a "Puratchi Kalaignar" (revolutionary artiste) who had a down-to-earth approach, invested his own hard earned money in his party and endeared himself to his cadres and voters alike.

Shekhar Iyer is former senior associate editor of Hindustan Times and political editor of Deccan Herald. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.