Tamil Nadu appears to be in an interesting spot. In a season of weddings, one is tempted to say that it has been getting the attention of a bride. Between January and now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited the state four times. In his latest public meeting in Chennai on March 3, he praised the state for its “great talent, trade and tradition”. He had returned to the state within a week after addressing a public meeting in Tirunelveli on February 28.
Some may cynically say that this is an election year, and he may visit eight more times before May. That apart, it is a fact that Modi’s engagement with Tamils and Tamil Nadu in recent times has been inversely proportional to the electoral dividends the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has received or will receive from the state any time soon. In the 2019 general elections, not a single BJP member was elected.
They had contested in five seats in an alliance led by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). And in 2019 too, between January and April, Modi had visited the state four times. Anyway, this average has already been broken in 2024. In all, from the time he became prime minister in 2014, till now, he has visited the state 24 times, which is some testimony to the consistency in his engagement. Not many Indian states have been so lucky.
In 2014, when the BJP had not allied with AIADMK, they had won a single seat – Kanyakumari. This time, at least until now, the BJP is not in alliance with any of the Dravidian parties, but a couple of surveys are already predicting victory in about four seats. Although many admit that the BJP’s vote share may have gone up in the state, to predict a sudden gain in the seats has to be viewed cautiously.
The point, however, is one may be making a mistake if one views Modi’s stubborn engagement as simply about seeking votes. He may be far too pragmatic than the pollsters. His courting Tamil Nadu may actually have to do with two things: One, vanquishing the ideological challenge the state poses to the BJP’s cultural and civilisational belief system, and two, Modi may have a shrewd political prognosis too.
As of today, there is no other state in India, other than Tamil Nadu, that offers a total civilisational counter, without a crack or a crevice, to the BJP’s homogenous Hindu narrative. This counter is exclusive to Tamil Nadu and does not spread across southern India. Kerala may look impregnable, but it operates at a universal axis that is entirely different.
Kerala’s universality is a mélange of communism, global religions as well as sharp goals of human development. But in the Tamil linguistic region, in the past 100 years, formally starting with the establishing of the Justice Party, then growing with the rational shock doctrines of Periyar, and finally being witness to the consolidation of the Dravidian parties, it has been very different.
Aspects of caste, religion, gender and language have been forged to create a formidable civilisational enterprise and a unique politico-cultural identity. Their atheist tradition did not suppress temples and faith but made them inclusive with progressive legislation.
This has ensured that Tamil Nadu at every bend of contemporary Indian history has challenged the nationalist thesis to present its own exclusive arguments. The propaganda models of the Dravidian parties, which predates the BJP by decades, has created enormous pride around this civilisational formulation, whose starting point, arguably, has been placing the Tamil language on par with classical Sanskrit.
Interestingly, the BJP’s cultural machine, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has also worked for nearly a century to mainstream its cultural ideas. The year 2025 is the organisation’s centenary year. Like a cultural imperialist, Modi may want to conquer this alternative idea of India that survives in Tamil Nadu to create a flat civilisational heritage.
The establishing of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and to project Lord Rama as the nation’s moral arbiter is a part of this project. Unfailingly, Modi included Tamil Nadu in the mythical geography of the Ramayana when he took a dip in the holy waters of Rameswaram as part of his pious observances before the consecration of the Ayodhya temple.
Prior to this, Modi recited Tamil verses at the United Nations; has tried to revive civilisational antiquity between the state and Kashi; taken the Chinese President around Mamallapuram; taken Sengol to the new Parliament; tied his dhoti the way the Tamils do and has balanced the angavastram. He has worked hard on the project to woo.
If Modi has pursued Tamil Nadu in a certain way, Rahul Gandhi seems to have discovered European enlightenment closer home in Tamil Nadu. He has praised the Dravidian model in Parliament. All the major arguments he has angrily and hastily made in the recent past, be it on federalism or social justice or rationalism or diversity have emanated from Tamil Nadu.
The warmth with which he wished M K Stalin on his birthday betrayed a certain affinity and admiration of the model: “…wishing you the very best in the times to come as we fight to protect the pluralistic and federal idea of India.” If Modi is wooing Tamil Nadu for a reason, Rahul Gandhi is looking up to it to validate his own understanding of the world. That’s about the bride’s attention we spoke about earlier.
Finally, the political prognosis part. Perhaps Modi and the BJP think that the Dravidian parties, after 65 years in power, may be on their last leg and last generation. Hence, if on the one hand, they seek to align with the Dravidian parties, on the other they try to appropriate their base. If Modi praises M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, the BJP’s state unit chief K Annamalai speaks a language that alienates the AIADMK.
There is a deliberate ambivalence in their political growth strategy, which is also visible in the confrontational style of the state’s governor, R N Ravi. They have co-opted whatever was left of Rajnikanth’s political force, Modi wrote a signed obituary for Vijayakanth, gave Ilayaraja a Rajya Sabha nomination, all steps to seek an independent political path. By 2026, when Assembly polls are due in Tamil Nadu, the contours of this battle may have sharpened, for which they may want to make 2024 an important milestone.
(Views are personal)
Sugata Srinivasaraju
Senior journalist and author of Strange Burdens: The Politics and redicaments of Rahul Gandhi
(sugataraju@gmail.com)