Yet another actor caught everyone by surprise by jumping into the electoral fray for the December 21 R.K. Nagar byelection, a seat that was held by Jayalalithaa.
Actor-Film Producer Vishal (40) today announced that he would be filing his nomination papers on Monday. Vishal’s surprise and sudden entry caught the major political parties by surprise, even though he had carried out an informal survey in the constituency through his fans.
According to sources Vishal could be testing the waters at the behest of actor Kamal Hassan who has already declared his intent to enter politics. “It is most likely that Kamal wants to see the public’s reaction to an actor entering the election scene. And Vishal, with his go getter image, is ideal for such an experiment,” said a senior Congress leader. Also concentrating one’s energy in a single byelection is far easier and would be a convenient dip stick to test if the voters are ready to continue Tamil Nadu’s tradition of backing actor-politicians.
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Elections are nothing new for Vishal as he contested and won really tough elections to the Nadigar Sangam (Artistes Association) and the Tamil Film Producer’s Council against established veterans. But seeking votes from a few thousand members pales in comparison when one has to win the confidence of 2.20 lakh voters who are divided on party lines.
The celebrity and film image might come in handy for Vishal during the campaign but reaching the votes in his favour at the booth level is a trick known only to entrenched parties like the DMK and AIADMK. Also with the EC imposing massive restrictions on campaign a new comer to politics like Vishal may find even the campaign really daunting. Of course he might kindle media and voter interest by getting fellow actors to campaign for him.
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“Contesting as an independent is not that easy unlike being the candidate of a strong political party. It will be a surprise if Vishal even retains his deposit,” said political commentator Raveendran Duraiswamy. Caste wise Vishal’s Reddy community are few in numbers in R.K. Nagar compared to Nayudus and fishermen, who form the support base of the AIADMK. “We have to see if Vishal is able to attract the votes of the young non-committed voters,” observed Sumanth Raman, political analyst.
Vishal was gung ho about his chances stating that he has a long history with R.K. Nagar as he had worked there in his individual capacity to bring relief to tsunami victims in 2004. “I will spell out my agenda after I file my nomination on Monday,” he said. Presently the field consists of DMK candidate Marudhu Ganesh, AIADMK’s E. Madhusoodhanan and TTV. Dhinakaran as an independent. The state BJP is yet to announce its candidate.
