Karunaidhi Does A Marie Antoinette
Water or colour TVs? That's what it boils down to. And Tamil Nadu chief ministerM Karunanidhi, like Marie Antoinette (who famously said if the people did nothave bread they could eat cake), chose TVs over water. A man who wrote scriptsfor films and even now spouts verse at the drop of a hat, and with family linksto TV channels, is likely to choose entertainment (read TV) over water.And with the communists as part of his rainbow coalition, he would have knownthat soaps and cinema, much like religion, are the opiate of the masses.
Thus it was that Karunanidhi preferred to please one crore people by givingcolour TVs rather than drinking water to the fluorosis-ridden districts ofDharmapuri and Krishnagiri. According to the Tamil Nadu government, theKarnataka government gave its consent to the Hoganekal project on July 29, 1998as a quid pro quo for TN approval for giving Cauvery water to Bangaloreans.
Advertisement
But, while Karnataka quickly went ahead with the Bangalore Water SupplyProject, Karunanidhi dragged his feet moaning he had no money for the Hoganekkalproject. Asks S Ramadoss of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK): "Can't agovernment that has a Rs 50,000 crore expenditure allot Rs 1000 crore fordrinking water needs?" He also points out that Rs 2250 crore wasallocated in three budgets ((Rs 750 crore each) for the distribution of onecrore colour TVs. In the first phase, 30,000 sets were distributed, in thesecond phase 25 lakh sets and in the third phase 34 lakh sets will be given.Incidentally, it is rumoured that many of the beneficiaries have sold the TVsand pocketed the money while 30 lakh people will continue to wait for safedrinking water.
She Said, He Said
In Tamil Nadu, it's a game of one-up(wo/)manship between Karunanidhi and AIADMKsupremo J Jayalalitha that drives most projects, and not their viability. The Rs720 crore New Veeranam project that brought 180 million litres of water per dayto Chennai in 2004 is an example. Many believe that Jayalalitha's"vision" was skewed when she, as then CM, went ahead with the NewVeeranam project (which was commissioned in 2004). The project was conceived 40years ago and even shelved by former CM M G Ramachandran.
Farmers, political parties and irrigation experts questioned the rationale oftrying to draw water from a dry tank 235 kms away from Chennai. The popularfeeling was that Jayalalitha was only driven by her obstinacy to save face aftermaking a promise of delivering a project (which she christened as the NEWVeeranam project) whose viability was a big question mark and the social andfinancial costs were huge.
So when she said, "Karunanidhi perhaps put the Hoganekkal project on holdon April 5 hoping that Kanimozhi (the CM's daughter who is a Rajya Sabha MP)would get a berth in the union cabinet reshuffle on April 6, but to hisdisappointment she was not given a berth," everyone knew she was justtrying to score debating points.
Ego Problems Among Stars
It's not just Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha who go about airing their egoproblems. Stars do too and that was evident when Rajnikanth entered the Chepauklast Friday with a Che Guevara style black beret and was greeted with lustycheers for the eight-hour-long fast organized by the Artists' Association. It'snot for nothing that he's called a "Shahenshah".
But Satyaraj, who has seen better days in Kollywood, made a catty remark andtold the crowds to "shush" when they went wild at Rajni's entrance,saying the issue that had brought all the stars to the dais was serious and notfor star gazing. He got his comeuppance from the Rajni fan club later when theyplastered Tamil Nadu's walls with condemnation of Satyaraj.
"Captain" Vijaykanth did a bit of sulking too. He wears two hats--thatof an MLA from the DMDK and of a filmstar (his latest film Arasangam isset for release on April 14)--and despite that he was apparently not invited tothe stars' day out. According to Viduthalai Chiruthagal Katchi MLA D Ravikumar,"He felt he was deliberately slighted."
But he was not the only one. Also feeling slighted by Karunanidhi's statementputting the project on hold was Artists' Association president Sarath Kumar, whoheads the All-India Samuthava Makkal Katchi. "We are shocked at this suddenvolte-face by the CM, that too after such a strong show of solidarity with theproject by the film industry," he said. Leaving aside politicians who saywhat they say because of their perceived constituencies, Rajnikanth, whootherwise keeps his distance from politics, has got dragged into a controversyafter the Vedike in Karnataka threatened to not allow his films. He must beruing his turn out at the fast.
More Loyal Than The King
But Rajnikanth had little choice considering he was expected to be more loyalthan the king because of his Bangalore roots. Stuck between a rock and a hardplace, he finally came out in support of the land which has made him rich andfamous.
Interestingly many in tinsel town have Kannada roots and showed up for the fast.There's Arjun and Murali (whose fathers are in the Kannada film industry),Prakash Raj (his real name is Prakash Rai--yes, just like Aishwarya Rai who,incidentally, also comes from Karnataka), Abbas (based in Bangalore) and actorVishal who is from Andhra Pradesh.
Among the women actors who showed their solidarity with Tamil Nadu, Sandhya,Nayantara and Bharati are from Kerala. Shriya Saran is a Delhite and Khushboo isfrom Mumbai.
Moolah can be a great motivator when it comes to taking sides. Just as well,because when someone as big as Rajni has been put on the defensive, it's notdifficult to mess around with the careers of those who are still trying to getthemselves on the marquee.
