Party Politics

• Party workers feel their leaders must be deified
  
• The celebrations are seen as a show of strength
  
• Very often even if the leadership says no there's no stopping the cadre
  
• Dravida politics has always used theatre, song and spectacle as part of its propaganda. Birthday bashes are a remnant of this.

***

The said hoarding and 50 others were pulled down after the city police received some "traffic complaints". But orders have come to 'reinstate' them three days before the B-day, when Stalin, the unanointed successor to the Kalaignar, turns 54. Chennai is already aflutter with vinyl posters, banners and flags, all hailing the "Dalapati" (commander). Meanwhile, the city's people are resigned to what will be huge traffic bottlenecks on the day, as all roads lead to Stalin's abode.

Of course, Stalin's birthday has to be more lavish than elder brother M.K. Azhagiri's, who turned 57 on January 30. The two brothers have called a truce for some years now and the noisy exit of the Maran brothers from the family circle has also led to a closing of ranks. Yet, there are camps and the followers have to vest time and money on proving loyalties. Azhagiri got a 57-kg cake (decorated with the DMK flag, the rising sun symbol and his picture), garlands of Rs 100 notes, apart from Madurai, his turf, being flooded with the usual posters and hoardings. We'll have to wait till March 1 to see how Stalin upstages this.

All of this is in spite of Karunanidhi's warning to the cadre recently that the people will be "irritated" with this flaunting of wealth. The patriarch's advice has been ignored, mostly because no one thinks he's really serious. This is the result of a belief—cemented over the years in state politics—that austerity is meaningless and huge displays of sycophancy and clout is needed to keep rivals, both within and outside the party, at bay. "Birthday bashes are a reflection of a tradition where the head of the house/ party is a very important person...and should be deified," says Vaasanthi, who authored Cutouts, Caste and Cinestars.

The great irony is that the Dravidian movement may have finally done away with the idea of reverence to gods. Politicians have now taken their place, put on a pedestal and worshipped. A leader's current status on the political landscape decides on what scale his (or her) birthday is celebrated. Perhaps why AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalitha's celebrations on February 24 were a tad modest compared to the frenzy that used to be unleashed when she was CM. There was no carriage drawn by 60 horses with elephants bringing up the rear which some partymen had promised. Instead, there was a mass marriage of 60 couples with Jayalalitha personally blessing the "thali" or mangalsutra, a distribution of gold rings to children born on February 24 by ex-minister B. Jayakumar and donations to select schools and orphanages. And since Amma had turned 60, a 60-kg cake was also cut at several places across the state. Coimbatore district secretary of the AIADMK, Sivasami, described the cake ceremony at the Chinnammai school there: "Though cakes are cut every year to mark Amma's birthday, this time we have a single cake weighing 60 kg, 10 feet long and five feet wide studded with almonds, plums and walnuts."

Azhagiri (in glasses) with proud partymen and 57-kg cake

There was also some pre- and post-birthday drama. On February 22, there was the exchange of garlands with friend Sasikala at the Amrithakadeswarar temple in Thirukkadaiyur, Nagapattinam district. And after her birthday, political buzz began over the 15 quarter-page advertisements in the multi-edition Dinakaran, a Maran-owned newspaper. This set off speculation that the brothers were cosying up to Amma now that they are in the doghouse vis-a-vis the Karunanidhi clan.

Geetha Ramani Shanmughan, a social scientist, interprets the political message in these wild 'celebrations'. "With elections around the corner, leaders have to signal to the cadre that they have what it takes to win elections. Jayalalitha, for instance, also needs to show the bjp she is big in order to be in a good bargaining position with the party for any possible alliance," she says. "The leader has to maintain supremacy," adds Vaasanthi. She confirmed a story of how someone had quizzed Jayalalitha on why she indulged in all the show when she claimed not to like people falling at her feet? Jaya reportedly replied that if she did not let them touch her feet, they would "sit on her head"! So ingrained is the tradition of servitude to a leader that MPs and mlas get tattoos of 'Puratchi Thalaivi' (revolutionary leader) and don't balk at doing "urundu sevai" (the 'rolling' circumambulation at a temple) while praying for her longevity.

Today there are also those who seek publicity and profit from this show. Take Shihan Hussaini, a sculptor, karate teacher and painter who painted 56 portraits of her in his blood on Jayalalitha's 56th birthday. There are more macabre examples: a man chopped off one of his fingers when she became 55, another cut off his tongue and offered it at the Tirupati temple when Amma turned 54. Some of these insane displays have been rewarded: for instance, Hussaini got an audience with Jaya.

V. Geetha, writer and feminist, says the birthday bash of the leader and filmstar is part of the Tamil fondness for the great spectacle. "In the Tamil context, this has to do with politics being reinvented by the DMK as a great performance thing—with speeches, dramas and spectacles being very important aspects of propaganda," she says, adding that "Jayalalitha took the spectacle to even greater heights. This has emboldened men like even Azhagiri to seek what is not gained through regular propaganda." Clearly, the spectacular B-day is now as Tamil as Dravida politics.