The Good Part About Vijay Winning Tamil Nadu's Election

Before I start, I don't favor any parties, and I am not a perfectly logical person in my decisions either.

Tamil Nadu recently elected its new leader, Vijay, who is, to put it mildly, very inexperienced in politics. He only created his party just two years ago (albeit one could argue he started putting in the work a long time ago), which beat the DMK/ADMK (the oldest Tamil Nadu bipartisan election winners since the formation of Tamil Nadu); their seats, put together post-elections, were enough to split half of the ADMK to his side during the floor test.

If history is any indication, Influence often beats policy. Even successful democratic economies' elections are still driven by influence, at least to some extent. Even without influence, even the most logical person employs heuristics for voting.

What's more interesting is that I had the chance to speak with some of the people who voted for Vijay. Do note that they were not die-hard fans of Vijay either (it would be pointless to talk to fans who just want to see Vijay win). While their experiences were different, they shared a common point to convey: they just wanted change; they were very annoyed by the daily governance; and they simply didn't want to vote for the DMK again, nor did they vote for the ADMK.

One of the people I talked to was a cab driver who mentioned that many of his friends and family started watching Vijay live on TV, from his oath ceremony to the floor test in the State Legislative Assembly. Days forward, every policy being introduced, Vijay's travel itinerary, who the leaders are meeting up with, and why. Even though they are mostly only interested in what Vijay, there is an interesting observation.

As he mentioned, a considerable number of people are not even aware of the basic government setup, how a floor test works, or what the different kinds of administrations are present and why (this includes me to some extent, by the way). This is where it gets interesting. Being aware pushes them to ask why, and asking why is just, well, critical thinking.

I believe influence usually robs people of critical thinking, unlike in this case. This is incredible because it enhances people's ability to ask the right questions and think through the administration's decisions. It has a net positive effect on democracy and, by extension, its people.

So whether voting for Vijay was a good decision is hard to say. It's anecdotal, not something you can pinpoint on paper, and no one even believed he'd even win in the first place. But in the one way that actually matters, maybe it was.