Tamil Nadu: New parties floated, will it leave voters confused?

Tamil Nadu is a state where politics never ends. Few months back it faced political vacuum, but it has supposedly changed now. ‘Too many cooks spoil the food’, the phrase has come to life in Tamil Nadu politics. Well-known politicians and renowned actors have floated their own parties, with the same agenda to end the political vacuum that was there in state politics.

Political vacuum that can turn into saturation

Ever since the passing of former Chief Minister and head of the AIADMK party Jayalalithaa, in December 2016, and the stepping back from active politics of DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi, parallel developments have occurred: a leadership vacuum has engulfed the state, manifested in the ongoing implosion of the AIADMK in terms of bitter factionalism and a heretofore unresolved power struggle to control the reins of the party.

To end this political vacuum, every other person in Tamil Nadu is now seen plunging into politics. So, people like superstar Rajnikanth, Kamal Haasan, and Sasikala’s nephew TTV Dhinakaran floated their own parties banking on the reason of political vacuum. Rajnikanth, who has already launched his party symbol (apna mudra), will soon launch his party. Later, following the footsteps, Kamal Haasan launched his party ‘Makkal Needhi Maiam’, and later ousted AIADMK general secretary and RK Nagar MLA TTV Dhinakaran launched his political party ‘Amma Makkal Munetra Kazhagam’ (AMMK), all three having a same agenda to bring change in state politics and to provide good governance.

After every other person plunging into state politics can lead to either betterment of people or worse can lead to saturation votes. With people in state who are already in dilemma over state politics, with new parties floated which can add to their misery and spoil them with choices– which party to vote?. After passing away of Jayalalithaa people were in distress over state of politics in Tamil Nadu, and AIADMK losing its touch, it’s confusing which party will people vote for in coming elections.

Even DMK is also witnessing some shift in its voter base towards new parties, though its voter base is relatively intact when compared to the AIADMK. So even though both Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan have massive fan following, TTV Dhinakaran can’t be left out from the picture. After winning RK Nagar bypoll, Dhinakaran has proved that he means serious business.

So will these new political parties help Tamil Nadu politics or create a saturation among voters? Only time will tell.