CHENNAI: Even as observers feel the PMK’s agitation for 20 per cent compartmental reservation for Vanniyars might help the party to consolidate community votes and strengthen its negotiating position during alliance talks with the Dravidian majors, party insiders fear that the protests would alienate non-Vanniyar voters.
The party staged demonstrations in front of the TNPSC office in Chennai from December 1 to 4. The protests took a violent turn, with cadres pelting trains with stones. The next phase of the protest, according to sources, is scheduled to commence on December 14 in front of VAO offices across the State.
Second-rung leaders of the PMK, many from non-Vanniyar background, say the party is risking electoral success by pursuing this strategy, that too so close to the 2021 Assembly polls. After years of attempting to project itself as a progressive party for all communities, agitating over a demand only for the welfare of Vanniyars would only cement its image as a caste-based party.
A PMK leader, who contested in the 2016 Assembly polls from a northern district and lost, says the party was not able to draw the non-Vanniyar votes. “I belong to a non-Vanniyar community and I was given a ticket as I have served the party for several years. But, when push comes to shove, the party’s support immediately leans towards only Vanniyars.
This is why voters from other communities are reluctant to support PMK candidates even when in alliance with the Dravidian majors,” he says. Explaining how this has affected the party’s electoral success, he says that in 2016, when the party contested alone, its candidates secured more than 60,000 votes in one constituency, more than 50,000 in five, more than 40,000 in four and more than 30,000 votes in nine constituencies. “Yet we could not win a single seat because not many non-Vanniyars are ready to support our candidates. In this context, the protest seeking a separate quota for Vanniyars will make this worse.
If this is truly a progressive party and a party for all, as Dr Ramadoss (founder) has claimed, it should have demanded an increase in quota for all BC and MBCs,” he says. Another leader, who contested from a central district and lost, says the agitation coming just months before the polls may help the party increase its bargaining power and consolidate the Vanniyar vote bank. “So, we may manage to get more seats in an alliance. Still, cadres of the alliance partners as well as non-Vanniyar voters will treat us as unwanted guests. This will surely affect our electoral prospects,” he says.
A leader from a western district expressed frustration that the party had chosen to protest for one community instead of raising issues of common interest. “Right now, we should be protesting for reservation for Tamil medium students and government school students in education and job opportunities or constructing dams to prevent floods. For these issues, the leadership only issues press releases, but stages violent protests for the welfare of Vanniyars.
Then why should others support our party? I am unable to understand the logic. Only because of this protest, we stand the risk of not winning a single seat in 2021, even if we are in an alliance with the AIADMK or the DMK,” he warns. Veteran journalist T Koodalarasan agreed with the aggrieved PMK leaders. “Every party has the right to stage a protest in a democracy.
But, timing is very important. The PMK has been raising this demand for decades. But, I don’t understand why they are staging these protests now, despite being in an alliance with the ruling parties in the State and the Centre,” he says. However, the party is now in a tight spot. If it continues with the protests, it may alienate non-Vanniyar voters, but if it drops them at this stage, it might antagonise its Vanniyar base.