CHENNAI: Having launched his mission of social engineering earlier this month in Tamil Nadu to give a fillip to the BJP’s quest for power in the state, party national president Amit Shah landed here again with a twin purpose. This time, his itinerary included neighbouring Puducherry as well.
If long term strategy brings him to the Dravidian land, realpolitik calculation was the reason for him to walk the extra mile to meet a reticent Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy, president of the All India NR Congress. The visit assumes significance as election to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from the Union Territory is expected in September. The term of incumbent P Kannan of the Congress expires on October 6. And it has fueled speculation in political circles over whether Rangasamy would concede the BJP’s demand for the seat even though the saffron party has no representation in the Territorial Assembly.
Chief Minister Rangasamy is under pressure, say observers. For, ever since the BJP made its demand known, he has been avoiding visiting New Delhi as he is keen on keeping it for the party. But, he is also aware that denying the seat to the BJP might put strain on the alliance with the saffron party which has to shore up its numbers in the Rajya Sabha. Within the BJP, the hopes are high after Mahesh Giri, BJP national secretary in-charge of Puducherry and Lakswadeep, facilitating the meeting between Shah and Rangasamy.
Congress legislator Malladi Krishna Rao is ready to switch loyalties and hopes that he might be given the Rajya Sabha ticket on behalf of the AINRC-BJP alliance. “Malladi asked me to vouch for him by citing his capabilities and contacts in Delhi and how Puducherry could benefit if he became a Rajya Sabha member,” says an AINRC MLA. But, there are other hopefuls as well.
His next stop Chidambaram was no less significant as it was part of expanding the party’s base among the Dalits. In continuation of his efforts towards social engineering, he offered prayers at the Sivaloganathar temple and Nandhanar mutt after visiting the famous Nataraja temple. The BJP president paid homage at the memorial of Swami Sahajananda, a Dalit spiritual and political leader of the freedom movement era. “We are happy about Amit Shah’s visit to the Sivaloganathar temple, which is the only big temple for Dalits. Shah is the only national leader, who visited this temple in the past 25 years,” says Jeyachandran, secretary of the trust. Nandar, believed to have lived in the 6th century AD, is the only dalit among 63 nayanmars (Saivite saints) and Sahajananda established the mutt and strived for the education of the untouchables, preventing their religious conversion.
It appears Shah’s initiative to bring about a Dalit-OBC axis in Madurai earlier this month was not an isolated one but a beginning of a calibrated strategy of looking beyond the 2016 Assembly Poll. But, in the absence of solid backing of major communities, enjoyed by either the AIADMK or the DMK, the success of the strategy remains to be seen.