Stars including Rajinikanth not voting in TN urban polls triggers debates

Chennai: Fans were waiting for them, all agog at the booths where they were expected. Where they expected Rajinikanth, he didn't show up. Those waiting for Ajith, Trisha, Shiva Karthikeyan, Simbu were also let down.

What they next did was to take their frustrations to the social media - which eventually led to meaningful political debate. Stars' managers deflected criticism, saying the stars were either out of country or under treatment or in shoot within the country.

Chennai-based political analyst, M. Chidambaresan, told IANS that Tamil superstars are losing interest in politics.

"Tamil superstars are losing interest in politics as they found that stars like Kamal Haasan, Seeman have failed to evince interest among the voters. Except for Vijay, there is no star in Tamil Nadu who is now responding to social and political issues and naturally, this is reflected in their lack of interest to vote in polls." He said.

Actor Vijay cast vote in a polling booth at Nangerani in Chennai early in the morning.

During the 2021 Assembly elections, Vijay bicycled to the booth from his home, triggering discussions that his was a strong political message against the fuel prices in the country. Having failed to vote by stars including Rajinikanth has not gone down well with the people.

Teashop worker Ratnakumar in Ashok Nagar, Chennai said, "while the state election commission is exhorting local people like us to vote, why are they not ensuring that the celebrities vote too? This would at least give a feeling to ordinary people like me to feel that all of us are part of the democratic system. Now it seems that they are a different class, and we are an inferior lot."

Opinions point ouot that Rajanikant must be personally feeling out of reckoning in politics, needing not to cast his vote. Other including Ajith, Simbu, and Dhanush never expressed their social commitment openly.

Sukumaran, plumber for a major building group in Chennai, said: "The stars are emulated by a generation of people and Tamil Nadu is one state where stars have achieved the pedestal of political power and stars have to come out and vote and this makes a difference. In a democracy, the right to vote is the ultimate power and one should not lose that opportunity."

The State Election Commission criticized the stars for not coming out to vote in elections. The urban local body polls, held after eleven years, saw diminished voter turnout at 61 per cent and the polling in Chennai Corporation was the lowest at 43 per cent.