Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 1: Still struggling to find a foothold in Tamil Nadu where the two Dravidian rivals have traditionally dominated the political scene, the BJP is facing a challenge from its erstwhile alliance partner the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) to field its senior leaders to contest the Lok Sabha elections from the state.
The AIADMK, which broke its alliance with the BJP in September last year after the state BJP president insulted the tall Dravidian leader CN Annadurai, has dared the BJP to field Union Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman from Tamil Nadu for the Lok Sabha elections if the saffron party really thought the two have grown in Tamil Nadu and the party had strengthened its hold in the southern state.
Currently Rajya Sabha members from Gujarat and Karnataka respectively, the BJP is not known to have any plans to field the duo in the Lok Sabha elections, but the challenge has exposed the bitterness between the two erstwhile alliance partners with the BJP was learnt to be trying again to reach back to the AIADMK to join hands again.
On the sidelines of the birth anniversary of their leader and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister the late J Jayalalithaa, AIADMK’s deputy general secretary K P Munusamy said at Krishnagiri on Thursday that the BJP had been doing all groundwork for making former Tamil Nadu BJP president L Murugan to contest in the Lok Sabha polls but decided against it and made him their Rajya Sabha nominee from Madhya Pradesh because they knew they can’t win here.
The AIADMK that was previously part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 Assembly elections with BJP’s support until it broke ties with the NDA last September. Within the AIADMK, many had celebrated the break-up with the BJP, pointing out the Tamil party had lost – overwhelmingly – elections contested together. In the 2021 state election the AIADMK won 75 seats – down from 136 in 2016 – and it lost power. In the 2019 general election it was routed. The AIADMK-BJP alliance won just a single seat, while rivals DMK-Congress claimed 38 of 39.
“If BJP has the guts and belief that the people of Tamil Nadu will vote for them, let them make these two Union Ministers to contest from here… Then you (BJP) will get to know what lesson the people of Tamil Nadu will teach you. This is Dravidian soil,” Mr Munusamy said.
Reacting to BJP state president K Annamalai’s allegations that because of the two Dravidian parties – AIADMK and DMK, the state of Tamil Nadu has deteriorated in many sectors, Munusamy said Tamil Nadu has remained the top-performing state in the field of education, health, and water management in the country and under AIADMK, it has received various awards from the BJP-led central government in this regard.
“The people of Tamil Nadu are well-informed about the state of things and have a clarity about who should be voted to power. It is because of this, for the past 50 years, the national parties are unable to set foot here and the Dravidian parties continue to rule,” he said.
The AIADMK leader further said it did not matter whether BJP wins 300 or more seats in the upcoming election, but in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, it would be the AIADMK-led alliance which is going to emerge victorious in all 40 seats.
“DMK, another Dravidian party, is our competitor, not you (BJP). You may claim now that you are the second biggest party here, but only after election results, we will know where you are placed and in how many constituencies you will lose even the money deposited for polls,” he added.
Mr Munusamy’s comments come in the wake of pre-poll analysis of a popular Tamil TV news channel which had predicted that BJP will secure over 18 per cent vote share and will emerge as the second biggest party in the state pushing AIADMK to the third spot. The report was slammed by AIADMK that alleged that the survey lacked transparency.
The AIADMK snapped ties with the BJP in September last year; the trigger was critical comments by Mr Annamalai about late Mr Annadurai who was Tamil Nadu’s first Chief Minister and also AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran’s mentor.
A defiant Mr Annamalai refused to apologise and, in not doing so, was backed by the BJP, leading to talk his attacks on the AIADMK were a calculated ploy to force the regional party to break ties. Since then the BJP has been without a major alliance partner in the state, in which it has a vote-share of less than three per cent. The party has sealed only a deal with the Tamil Manila Congress. Sources said the BJP has reached out to the AIADMK, but these efforts have been snubbed, for now.
There is also talk of a deal with the Pattali Makkal Katchi of S Ramadoss, and speculation of senior political figures, like O Panneerselvam, may join. That, though, will be only in an individual capacity. The BJP seems to have placed its hopes of cracking Tamil Nadu on Mr Annamalai’s shoulders.
The ruling DMK, which is part of the Congress-led INDIA bloc, is in a happier place, having closed deals with smaller outfits Indian Union Muslim League and Kongu Desa Makkal Katchi. The big discussion will be with the Congress, which won nine of 10 seats it fought last time in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. There is also buzz actor Kamal Hassan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam may join.
Meanwhile, the BJP on Friday took a jibe at Chief Minister MK Stalin by extending birthday wishes to him in Mandarin. The gesture comes amid an escalating controversy surrounding an advertisement related to the new ISRO complex, which prominently featured a Chinese flag.
The tweet from the Tamil Nadu BJP read, “On behalf of Tamil Nadu BJP, here’s wishing our Honourable CM Thiru MK Stalin a happy birthday in his favourite language! May he live a long and healthy life!”
A row broke out after a newspaper advertisement, commissioned by Tamil Nadu’s Animal Husbandry Minister Anitha Radhakrishnan, showcased a rocket with a conspicuous Chinese flag. The ad celebrated the establishment of a second launch pad for ISRO in Kulasekarapattinam, Thoothukudi district, and was intended to highlight the DMK’s role in bringing this crucial project to the state.
Amid the uproar, Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi, representing the DMK, had acknowledged the error in the advertisement, attributing it to the artwork designer and had defended her party, stating that the issue did not warrant the intense backlash it received. The controversial poster featured Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister MK Stalin side by side, with a rocket in the background.
Fisheries Minister Anitha R Radhakrishnan, responsible for the contentious advertisement, had also clarified that the inclusion of the Chinese flag was a result of a mistake by the designer and asserted that the DMK had no ulterior motives. “A small mistake happened in the advertisement. We have no other intention. We have only love for India in our hearts,” stated Mr Radhakrishnan, emphasizing the DMK’s commitment to a united India without allowing room for conflicts based on caste or religion.