Brighter shade of pale

Political makeovers come in different shades. Some makeover artists like Sharad Pawar break away from their mother parties to give rise to new political formations.

Political makeovers come in different shades. Some makeover artists like Sharad Pawar break away from their mother parties to give rise to new political formations. Some, like Sanjay Nirupam, switch ideologies without any shred of embarrassment. Almost all make or break alliances depending on who’s likely to catch the mood of the voters that season. But Tamil Nadu politicians have found a beautiful way to catch votes. They’ve been cleaning up their ‘images’ — with facials, pedicures, manicures, even using concealers to hide as best as they can their dark sides — before setting off on the campaign trail to attract the masses.

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Compared with the studied rusticity of politicians from the northern belt, there is a modern, metrosexual shine to the Tamil Nadu politicos (though only the South Indian vote bank can probably be moved enough to cast their votes for M.K. Stalin on the basis of his new perm). This is even reflected in Vaiko’s allegations against Dayanidhi Maran, according to which this hotstepper, who’s now a Union minister, was the one to bring the ‘hell freezing’ disco culture into the state at the time he managed a disco called HFO.

Of course, Vaiko himself belongs to the second set of politicians — shifting base to the AIADMK despite being incarcerated under Pota by Amma — and may not have properly understood the charms of the beauty regime. In a state that hero-worships its cine-stars, the top of the political ladder may just be reached with the means of a make-up brush.