The name Gholamreza Tajgardoon, representative of Gachsaran and Basht, has once again surfaced with sensational news. Rumors of a chase and attempt to shoot this representative have been published in local media supporting Tajgardoon under the titles of assassination of a parliament member. Although the news outlet "Sedaye Jonoob" reported the arrest of an armed individual, the same report also called for clarification and stated that the details of this incident have not yet been determined.
What can be criticized now is turning news with unclear details into the focus of public attention; while questions regarding the record of this representative still demand clear answers.
The assassination attempt on Tajgardoon, even if true, may not signify his political importance but rather be the result of decades of corrupt presence in the regional body, which has brought nothing but suffering, deprivation, and discrimination for the people, and pockets filled with rent and black money for Tajgardoon and his circle of associates.
A representative whose promotional policy is to create an image of himself as the savior of the people of Gachsaran, but these fake titles have been nothing but a means to plunder resources.
The Theatrical Persona of Mr. Representative
The issue with Tajgardoon is not merely his frequent presence in the news; the issue is the theatrical aspect of his politics and the image that places him at the center of all developments. In such an image, successes are attributed to his will, appointments are portrayed as signs of his power, and oppositions are reduced to enmity against him. The politician distances himself from a position of accountability and appears as a hero whose entourage must continually recount his authority, popularity, and victimhood..
This sensitivity towards Tajgardoon has a history. His credentials were rejected by the parliament in July 2020. During its review, opponents raised allegations about rent-seeking and interference in appointments.
Javad Nikbin, a former member of the Investigation Commission, claimed during that period that Tajgardoon had extensive interference in offices and appointed individuals close to him in various agencies. This claim highlights the question of the boundary between political influence and the powers of representation. A representative who flaunts his bargaining power must explain how this power has been used: to strengthen public oversight or to form a circle of managers and affiliates who owe their positions to him?
Building a Pressure Group through Cultivation of Followers
At this point, the critique of team-building reaches the discussion of follower cultivation. Having a political team is common, but distributing positions and economic opportunities based on loyalty or activity in an individual's election campaign has a completely different meaning. In such a mechanism, flattery becomes a capital for advancement; close associates receive support and, in return, amplify the image of the supporter. A relationship forms where the manager, instead of being accountable for his performance, is concerned about satisfying the influential person, and the critic, instead of receiving answers, faces the circle of his defenders..
This circle is not only Tajgardoon's applauders, and at times when criticism of him rises, this circle becomes a pressure group to suppress any dissenting voice and expose Tajgardoon's corruption.
The question is clear: what is the criterion for entering his inner circle? Expertise and track record or companionship and approval? If public opportunities are turned into rewards for loyalty, the people of the region bear the cost of a network whose benefits circulate among the members of that same circle. Then, the display of popularity also lacks independent value; because some of the cheerleaders may themselves benefit from the continuation of influence..
The Godfather of Corruption Dreams of Becoming a Superstar
The term "economic godfather" in criticism refers to this personalization of power relations: a situation where access to opportunity passes through a relationship with an individual, and citizenship rights are offered as his favor. The theatrical aspect of such a model is also clear; the influential person must always be seen as powerful and popular so that the dependence of those around him seems natural. In this narrative, people are not the rightful owners; they are a crowd that must admire the presence of the hero..
Sensational news can reinforce this display and divert attention from contracts, appointments, and local demands to the fate of the representative himself. However, attributing the design of the shooting news or directing fake media to Tajgardoon, without independent evidence, is indefensible. Effective criticism must show the impact of the margin and simultaneously insist on documentation. No security news, real or unverified, provides a politician with immunity from questioning..
Instead of gathering admirers around his image and creating news scenarios to gain fake importance, Tajgardoon should answer about the relations of influence and the results of his performance. The credibility of representation is not measured by the number of flatterers and yellow rumors and margins. The criterion is the people's share of opportunities, the transparency of decisions, and the possibility of criticism without fear of exclusion. The louder the heroic display becomes, the more necessary it is to examine its backstage: who has risen, by what criteria, and at the expense of whom?
Efforts to Marginalize the News of Shooting at Protesters of Nepotistic Hires
Another point is the timing of the release of such news surrounding Tajgardoon. A representative who has previously used the tool of fake news-making at critical moments of exposing his violations and corruption to marginalize the reality of his corruption, this time, only a few weeks after the news of local people's protests over the release of a nepotistic hiring list at the Lishter refinery, which according to local narratives was done by Tajgardoon's order and was accompanied by police shooting at protesters, highlights the question of how much this heroic narrative of Tajgardoon depends on the numerous news of his corrupt interference in the discrimination governing the hiring of non-local individuals in Lishter.
As some Tajgardoon fan pages have previously stated, this representative has threatened that if the criticisms against him do not stop, he will no longer pursue the conditions of his electoral region.
A man who seems so immersed in margins that he sees himself not as a representative of the people but as a superstar enamored with the flash of cameras and the applause of his flatterers. Therefore, he tries to hide his broad circle of corruption, collusion, and lobbying behind these worthless margins, hoping that people, by believing the fabricated narratives around him, will forget that Mr. Representative has brought no benefit or advantage to the people of Gachsaran during his parliamentary tenure.