Outlook English - Print Subscribers Copy Outlook English, 16 July 2018 | Page 21

The reason is that I am worried about
the baggage they bring. Our uniqueness
is that we are clean by virtue of our
recent birth into politics. We would like
to maintain that. This is what they like
about us—the USP. We are also saying
this loud and clear...the kind of crowds
that we have been gathering: 40,000 or
60,000 people, they are not paid. They
don’t take liquor or biryani to come.
But you did share your stage with T.T.V.
Dinakaran
(corruption-convicted
Sasikala’s nephew) who is a tainted
figure, on Cauvery. So there is no
leaving out people from your
point of view.
No. When building a nation, we
have to call them. Though some
of them have called me names.
Yes, bad ones.
But that doesn’t matter, I am
not having an alliance with
them. It is a conference with
them. See, in Kerala’s assembly,
the Congress MP will walk
across to the communist side
and remind them of a point that
they have forgotten because it is
happening for Kerala.
Okay. Glimpses of very posi-
tive politics ther e...
Yes. Why do we have to wait for
a war to find that fraternal camaraderie
and yet disagree. That is why I call it
‘politiculture’.
That sounds more like Jayaprakash
Narayan or Mahatma Gandhi. In that
sense, it’s non-party politics at some
level.
But we are a party. We will take stances
which will surprise them. Some of them
refused. Mr Stalin refused to come for
the conference. I said everybody is
coming, please come. I went and invited
him, but his alliance of nine parties
apologetically said that they can’t come.
What does that mean in terms of
ground-level contests when it comes
to the elections, say next year or when-
ever there are assembly elections?
I am very clear about my secular status.
That itself is going to put me in a par-
ticular camp. But ‘secular’ will not stay
in rhetoric only, as it does in the DMK.
In that sense, you fit in fairly well into
the third front dynamics that seem to
be shaping up right now.
Yes.
I can call you Tamil Nadu’s contribu-
tion to that front.
You can, because we are already dis-
cussing that. That’s why I was seen in
Bangalore. I was to go on the dais with
all the chief ministers, but I thought
I didn’t fit in there, I was invited, and
there was a chair there.
In that case, why didn’t you go,?
I came from Thoothukudi (Tuticorin,
scene of anti-Sterlite protests). I had
to crash through—break barricades to
reach. Mamataji (Bengal CM Mamata
Banerjee) walked all the way, and there
was a traffic jam. But I just stayed back.
The thought was to meet these people.
“The kind of crowds that
we have been gathering:
40,000 or 60,000 people,
they are not paid. They
don’t take liquor or
biryani to come.”
So, your staying away from the stage
was just logistical?
If you look at our party symbol...they
asked me what the six hands in it are.
I said they’re the six states of South
India. They said, ‘We thought you are
only Tamil Nadu.’ I said I’m nati­onal.
So why not think of the synergy? Even
today, somebody came, and even before
Chandrababu Naidu said it, you loudly
proclaimed that synergy should hap-
pen. I am speaking to all of them. I am
constantly in touch with Pinarayi sir.
(Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan)
So you are clearly part of the Third
Front/Left Front group. Are you ready
in terms of resources? What about
funding?
Yes. Politicians are laughing because
they think that all this can be done only
with black money. I don’t think so. I said
I am collecting from the people. They
said, ‘Don’t you think, that’s a bizarre
idea? I said, ‘When avaricious politicians
empty the coffers, who do you think fills
it ?’ Not the billionaires of India! It is the
middle class and the lower middle class
who fill the coffers. Instead of stealing
and then asking them to fill the coffers.
I am going to ask them directly and I am
going to account for them. The biryani I
ate will be accounted for.
When you are part of the National
Front, the other politicians or
parties may not be that clean.
In fact, many of them have
charges and cases. Is that an
issue for you? How do you deal
with that?
That is very important for
us because an infection is an
infection. So we are being very
careful. Interestingly, these so-
called leaders are not actually
leaders, they are vote canvassers.
Or vote contractors. But there
are actual cadres who work for
these men. They are keen. The
disappointed in each party are
already contacting me. And they
have better exp­
erience than
me. Some of them have already started
moving (towards me). The only thing
is, without hurting them—keeping their
individuality, I say let’s work together. I
would rather prefer cadres (to parties).
So all your film production and
dist­ribution experience seems to be
helping you.
Yes, in a way yes, it is not far different
from that. People make it think like:
‘Politics is very unpredictable’. So is life.
How do you juggle all this with
your Bigg Boss (TV reality show),
Vishwaroopam 2 and all?
My Vishwaroopam 2 has completed. The
post-production is also done. I just have
to do the promotion of the film. For Bigg
Boss, I go only on the weekends and that
is a fantastic thing. I would not lose it for
anything because it involves talking to
5.2 crore people. The way I am handling
it, I have changed the complexion of the
show. Nobody else speaks of politics.
I openly keep reminding viewers in a
subliminal way about it. I constantly
keep talking to them about that. Let the
stain be only on the finger (that votes).
Don’t let it spread on your hands. O
16 July 2018 OUTLOOK 21