Meet Vijayakanth, the winning loser of Tamil Nadu

Every election brings its own bunch of winners and losers. We know the winners: Mamata in Bengal, Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu, and Tarun Gogoi in Assam. But, er, who has won in Kerala? That’s the point. Sometimes, winners look like losers because of the kind of win they get. There are two winning losers, this time. Take the example of the UDF in Kerala, which is a seat or two ahead of the LDF, but is unlikely to be able to rule in peace even if it wins. Reason: it carries within itself several fractious communal parties representing Muslims and Christians. This is not to speak of the Congress party’s own divided factions. [caption id=“attachment_9394” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“A victory without meaning for actor Vijayakanth. Photo courtesy www.dmdkparty.com”]  [/caption] So, one winning loser is the Congress in Kerala, which will have a tough time managing the coalition, assuming it finally stays ahead of the LDF. The second winning loser is actor-turned-politician Vijayakanth (“Captain” to his fans), head of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), which has been the tilting factor in the Tamil Nadu elections. When he contested alone in the 2009 elections, he took votes away from Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK coalition and brought the DMK-led alliance victory. In short, he was the spoiler. This time he tried not being a spoiler, and ruined his own chances. All this is hindsight, but the fact is Vijayakanth’s addition to the AIADMK coalition tilted the balance in favour of Jayalalithaa. But the landslide win for the front has ensured that Jaya has enough MLAs of her own. She no longer needs him. The Captain is back in the pavilion. He is back to being a cipher in Tamil Nadu politics after being instrumental in turning the tide in Jaya’s favour.