Outlook English - Print Subscribers Copy Outlook English, 16 July 2018 | Page 18

INTERVIEW
Keeping true to Tamil Nadu’s pec­
uliar political history, movie stars
Kamalahaasan and Rajnikanth ann­
ounced their entry into politics a while
back. The void created by former chief
minister J. Jayalalitha’s death and the
virtual absence of her rival, the 94-year-
old M. Karunanidhi of the DMK, perhaps
pushed the stars to make their move now.
Rajnikanth appears to have no plans to
contest Lok Sabha elections next year
18 OUTLOOK 16 July 2018
“I’m a politiculturist w
and is yet to launch a party. But Kamal,
who launched his Makkal Needhi Maiam
(People’s Justice Centre) last February,
is trying to be a new force in the state,
combining his intellect, popularity and
charisma in an attempt to change the
political culture of a state hit by waves
of corruption and larger-than-life lead­
ers. It seems that he wants to change
everything—from a ‘Thalaivar’-oriented
personality cult trend to the way elections
are funded. He also wants to avoid a
culture of freebies through a new-age
model. The well-read Kamal sees himself
as an outlier, like Spartacus, who is out
to challenge the status quo with a new
system in mind.
He spoke to Madhavan Narayanan on
his desire to usher in a new kind of centrist
politics in the state as a constituent of an
emerging non-Congress, non-BJP front
and how he wants to achieve this desire.