Tinsel politics return in India
By Sreeram Chaulia
The advent of Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam (People's Rule) party in the Indian
state of Andhra Pradesh has reignited an old trend of Tollywood stars cashing
in on personas to catapult themselves to power, with the 53-year-old actor only
the latest in a long string of matinee idols to make a foray into politics.
Chiranjeevi's glittering entrance has prompted feverish speculation in Andhra
over the possible impact his party will have on the ruling Congress and
opposition Telugu Desam Party. Opinions vary over which will bear the brunt of
the wildcard entry and optimistic commentators say the Chiranjeevi factor could
lead to a defeat of ruling party and marginalization of the opposition.
Given the arithmetic of "vote banks", which fluctuate with caste and regional
heterogeneity in Andhra Pradesh, and the widening of the fray due to
Chiranjeevi's foray, it is also possible that next
year's state assembly elections could produce a hung assembly. Andhra may then
become another Uttar Pradesh, the north Indian state where a triangulation of
the political space has led to frequent expediential alliances for control of
the chessboard.
Numbers aside, the advent of Praja Rajyam has not yet been
analyzed in terms of its deeper significance for political participation and
political efficacy, two main dimensions of India's democracy. The party claims
that Chiranjeevi's charisma is attracting younger supporters all over Andhra,
and will draw them into polling booths with unparalleled enthusiasm.
While this seems encouraging for democracy, the question remains as to why
Indians need the lightning rod of a film star to increase their political
participation. When there are traditionally low levels of civic consciousness
and involvement in public issues, apathy could be shaken by an electrifying
figure - exactly the kind of effect with which admirers credit Chiranjeevi.
But when civic crusaders in Andhra came together in 2006 to convert electoral
watchdog Lok Satta into a political party, there was no comparable hysteria
that it may embolden the people to demand better standards of governance.
Despite Lok Satta's long and respectable track record of advocacy for raising
voter awareness and integrity in public life, its reincarnation as a party was
not portrayed in the media as a thunderbolt which would usher in a new era of
clean politics.
The hoopla surrounding Praja Rajyam is thus a reminder of the deficiencies in
India's political culture, where glitter and glamour get huge lifts from
opinion makers at the cost of genuine parties which promise to reform the
system.
A closer examination of Chiranjeevi's message is also a cause for concern, with
his inaugural speech at the temple town of Tirupati Tirupati on August 26
showcasing a Praja Rajyam which will cast a wide net as a catch-all party. By
simultaneously positioning himself as an opponent of special economic zones -
as they displace the poor - and as a proponent of attracting rich investors, he
sent mixed messages.
He also announced a wait-and-see approach towards the critical state-relevant
issues of separatism in Telangana and affirmative action for downtrodden
castes, revealing an opportunistic core.
Political parties in India are increasingly bereft of good campaign issues, and
Praja Rajyam is a prime example. With no ideological cachet of his own,
Chiranjeevi is attempting to ride his personal charm as a film star into the
seat of power. The political arena can truly expand if newcomers offer
something distinct and clearly identifiable by voters, yet Praja Rajyam shows
no ideological clarity of its own, except for the banal declaration that his is
a "party of social justice".
In a bygone era, doyen of popular cinema in Andhra Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao,
commonly known as NTR, generated waves of Telugu regional pride as he swept to
power at the 1983 assembly elections, at a time when there were no strong
regional parties in Andhra politics. The development of strong regional parties
like NTR's, which catered to their respective linguistic states, was imperative
if India's federalism was to survive and take root.
The extraordinary success of NTR achieved this goal and eventually also sowed
the seeds for bi-partism in national politics, by providing an alternative to
the hitherto permanent rule of the Congress in New Delhi.
Comparisons between NTR's storming of Andhra politics and Chiranjeevi's bid are
being made ad nauseam these days, but it bears reminding that the former took
on the mantle of public leadership long before his formal launch of Telugu
Desam.
In 1952, NTR sensitized Telugu people to the plight of drought-prone
Rayalaseeema and raised funds for relief supplies, a feat he repeated in 1977
for cyclone victims in Diviseema. During India's 1965 conflict with Pakistan,
NTR was at the forefront of galvanizing the public in Andhra to donate to a
central defense fund at a crucial juncture of the country's history.
NTR also enjoyed the unanimous backing of the Telugu film industry when he took
stands for public causes. The goodwill and gratitude he earned in the movie
trade over the course of his 300-odd-film career was unmatched, and a critical
reservoir of support for Telugu Desam.
On all the above counts, Chiranjeevi fails to match NTR's achievements. The
NTR-Chiranjeevi comparison illustrates that mere acclaim as an actor is neither
necessary nor sufficient for winning elections or, more importantly, solving
people's problems. Phenomena such as NTR and Maruthur Gopala Ramachandran
Menon, the south Indian cinema colossus who was chief minister of Andhra's
neighboring state Tamil Nadu for seven years, did capitalize on their magnetic
screen presence - but also harnessed long years of civic engagement.
Sheer movie star power has never been enough to mesmerize the world public, and
former US president and film star, Ronald Reagan earned his spurs as a
progressive head of the Hollywood Screen Actors Guild in the 1930s at a time
when exploitation of workers in the American film industry was de rigueur.
Action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger also had political affiliations with the
Republican Party dating to 1968 before he became the governor of California.
Former Philippine president and movie icon Joseph Estrada served as a mayor and
senator for decades before he rose to his country's top political office.
Historian Ramachandra Guha argues that, compared to their Bollywood peers in
the Hindi heartland, southern Indian film stars have a greater following and
larger-than-life auras because they apotheosize unique sub-nationalisms and
linguistic identities in the most multicultural country of the world.
Chiranjeevi does not fit this bill because of the diluted ideology and
vagueness of Praja Rajyam, which is emerging as neither fish nor fowl.
While fans of the actor have hailed his new starring role in politics, the
overall implications of his arrival do not bode well for the theory and
practice of democracy in India.
Sreeram Chaulia is a researcher on international affairs at the Maxwell
School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in Syracuse, New York.
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analyzed in terms of its deeper significance for political participation and
political efficacy, two main dimensions of India's democracy. The party claims
that Chiranjeevi's charisma is attracting younger supporters all over Andhra,
and will draw them into polling booths with unparalleled enthusiasm.
