The adage "any publicity is good publicity" may not work if you are MK Stalin

Over the last few weeks, DMK's rising son has been on a mission to reach out to people from different walks of life, to listen and find solutions to their problems. The "Namakku Naame" (translated to read We for ourselves) campaign will see the DMK treasurer journey across all 32 districts of Tamil Nadu with more than six months left for assembly elections.

While the success of his mission will be known only in the summer of 2016, much of it is dependent on how people view him - a likely Chief Ministerial candidate. In a state where leaders are treated like demi-gods, his "Namakku Naame" campaign has revolved around making Stalin accessible to the people, of making him more grounded, of building an image that he is a man of the masses. His Facebook and twitter profiles show him riding a scooter in Tirunelveli, visiting a vegetable market in Dindigul, sipping on jigarthanda in Madurai and the like. He even dared to visit a temple in Sivaganga district last month – a first by a top leader in the DMK, a party that is rationalist and atheist.

Of course, if a 62-year-old reinvents himself, it also has to come with a new wardrobe. Stalin’s makeover has involved shedding the crisp white shirt and karai veshti donned by most male politicians in Tamil Nadu for a polo shirt and trousers. The classic white chappals have also made way for neon green sneakers.

So, isn't it natural that outrage would follow when a video surfaces on the internet of Stalin slapping an auto-rickshaw driver in Gudalur on Wednesday, whose fault, it would seem, was attempting to take a selfie with his Thalapathy? Perhaps, Dilipan did get too close to Stalin. Perhaps, the excited “DMK member” got carried away and was obstructing the leader’s path in an already crowded area. Perhaps, Stalin just didn’t have time for a selfie in his list of events for the day. But what “slapgate” boils down to is Stalin defying the image that his team is attempting to build for him. After all, it wasn’t the first incident of its kind. Stalin’s hand met the face of another “DMK member” riding the Chennai Metro in July for inconveniencing fellow passengers.

Like most politicians, Stalin countered the controversy that was brewing, by - a) denying the incident, b) defending himself for acting strict with an errant party member who was disturbing the public and c) targeting his biggest rival – Jayalalithaa. Yes, he did finally pose for a stage-managed selfie with Dilipan, the auto-rickshaw driver. But the damage had been done. If only our demi-gods knew how to apologise!