CHENNAI: The BJP has been attempting to paint the DMK as anti-Dalit for months now, thereby weakening one of the vote bases of the party. The key narrative has been that the DMK only exploits Dalits for their votes by means of tokenisms.
It started with the allegation that the office of Murasoli, DMK’s newspaper, is located on panchami land that belongs to Dalits. Though there has been no evidence substantiating the claims, the matter is now with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC).
Former BJP SC Morcha state president Ma Venkatesan says his party has taken up the campaign because the DMK has been acting against the interests of Dalits. He says, “The DMK claims to be a pioneer of social justice, but is only brainwashing Dalits. The mentality of most DMK leaders and cadre is anti-Dalit.” Venkatesan says the party’s aim is to show people the “original face” of the DMK.
Each district unit has been given a target to reach at least 10,000 persons through various campaigns. When L Murugan, a Dalit, was appointed president of BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit, posters in Chennai, showing Murugan with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, proclaimed: “This is real social justice.” Incidentally, Murugan was vice-chairman of the NCSC when the Murasoli case was taken up.
Comments by a few DMK leaders have added fuel to the BJP’s campaign. Recently, comments by DMK spokesperson RS Bharathi on Dalit judges, for which he had to apologise, nearly landed him in jail.
Speaking to Express, DMK SC wing secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Anthiyur Selvaraj says the BJP is trying to exploit a few “tongue slips” on the part of DMK leaders. “It is the DMK which has done a lot for the welfare of Dalits. In other parties, Dalits are given postings only in Dalit wings. But that’s not the case in the DMK. The BJP has appointed a Dalit as president in Tamil Nadu, where the party doesn’t have much political presence. In how many other states do they have Dalits as state presidents?” he says.
VP Duraisamy, former deputy general secretary of DMK who recently joined BJP, counters this argument, saying the Narendra Modi-led government in the Centre has done a lot for Dalits, including releasing of stamps and coins commemorating Dr BR Ambedkar. “The BJP government bought the house where Ambedkar stayed in London and converted it into an accommodation for Dalit students.”
However, Dalit activists say the BJP’s campaign to paint the DMK as anti-Dalit is yet to have much impact and it is unlikely that the BJP will gain from it. Activist and director of ‘Evidence’, A Kathir told Express, “We cannot accept the statements of the DMK leader. At the same time, we cannot brush aside what the party has done for the community. The DMK has been in the forefront of ensuring reservation for the suppressed communities.” Meanwhile, even as the DMK received flak for its delayed response to the acquittal of the key accused in the Udumalpet honour killing case, the BJP is yet to comment on the issue.