A Captain fan & AIADMK loyalist rolled into one

For a fan, there is always something inspiring in a filmy hero he or she worships. V.C. Chandhirakumar, who was ejected from the DMDK after a show of strength against a man he has worshipped for decades, says the actor helped him overcome his inferiority complex early in life.

“I had an inferiority complex because of my dark complexion. My friends consoled me saying Vijayakant was also of dark complexion but had made it big in the film industry. I instantly became his fan,” said Mr Chandhirakumar, now 48 years’ old.

Politically though he was a supporter of the AIADMK since his school days and had even risen to the position of Erode district MGR Youth Wing deputy secretary.

“Political affiliations did not come in the way of being part of Vijayakant’s fan club,” recounted Mr. Chandhirakumar, who was running a garment business before becoming a full-time politician. “I have leased the textile units as I am now spending most of the days in Chennai,” he said.

Mr. Chandhirakumar added that the local AIADMK leaders were once very angry with him since he had helped distribute and put out posters for an event involving DMK leader M. Karunanidhi organised by Vijayakant. His love for the Captain was beyond politics.

Even though DMDK was launched only in 2006, Mr. Chandhirakumar said the seed for converting the fans club into a political party was sown as early as in the 1990s.

In 2005, a fan club meeting in Erode paved the way for the launch of the DMDK,” said Mr. Chandhirakumar, who eventually shifted his loyalties to the DMDK. He went on to ably lead the party in the Assembly between 2011 and 2016 in the absence of Mr. Vijayakant.

He first contested in the Assembly polls in 2006 and secured only 29,011 votes. In the 2011 elections, he defeated Muthusamy, a political heavyweight and a minister in the cabinets of MGR and Jayalalithaa.

With Tuesday’s marching orders, there is a question mark over Mr. Chandhirakumar’s political future. When asked what he would like to do, he is quite nonchalant about not having any immediate plans.