With a touch of glamour at his side in the form of popular actress-wife Radhika, another Tamil celluloid hero, Sarat Kumar, formally launched his All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi (All India Egalitarian People’s Party), with its first conference in Madurai, considered a pulse for any Dravidian political outfit.Dressed in spotless white slacks, white dhoti with red-and-ochre-yellow border to denote his party colours and vermillion on his forehead, 54-year-old Sarat, accompanied by Radhika, drew a few thousand fans to the conference on Sunday at the Viraganur Maidan near Madurai, among whom were a generous sprinkling of Nadars, a Backward Caste community, from which he hails.The actor hoisted his red-and-yellow party flag and freed dozens of doves, ending the conference with his maiden 45-minute speech in which he defined his party’s stand on the nuclear deal and dynastic rule in Tamil Nadu. The nuclear deal was necessary “to boost the much necessary power generation essential for industrial growth” the actor said, and opposed dynastic rule in Tamil Nadu, an obvious dig at M K Stalin, the DMK’s heir apparent.His party would capture power by 2011, said Sarat optimistically, adding that his AISMK would help end the four decade rule by Dravidian parties “that has seen little development.” His party supported 33 per cent reservation for women in elected bodies and was critical of those opposing Hindi as it was they who sent their children to learn the language, he said.Sarat is the latest to launch a party and hit the political dirt track that has seen several actors attempting to exploit their on-screen charm. He made his debut in politics several years back, joining the AIADMK, later switching to the DMK, then back to the AIADMK on the eve of the last Assembly election. But it was only in September 2007 that he launched his AISMK, expressing disillusionment with both Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa, and advocating “a casteless society and egalitarian principles”.To gain political mileage, Sarat, labelled as Kollywood’s macho star, projected himself as the leader of the Nadars, an influential community of merchants, spread out in the southern districts. He claimed to follow the ideals of the late K Kamaraj, Congress stalwart and a popular former Chief Minister, who also hailed from the Nadar community.
