CHENNAI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been trying to make it big in the Dravidian turf since the 1980 Assembly elections. Till 2016 polls, its performance in electoral politics in the State has remained dismal, with 875 out of 926 candidates forfeiting deposits, and just five MLAs getting elected in the last four decades. Even the often said ‘Modi factor’ failed to create a mark in the State in the 2014 and 2019 general elections, which saw AIADMK and DMK putting up dominating performances respectively.
However, for the 2021 elections, political observers say that the saffron party, emboldened by the absence of tall leaders like M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa in the State, is trying its ‘Samagra Hindutva’ strategy by including non-dominant backward classes and non-dominant Dalits into its fold to earn a ‘socially inclusive’ tag for political benefits.
Strategy played out in 3 ways
Badri Narayan, the author of Republic of Hindutva, says that the strategy helped the party counter the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in the 2019 general elections. In Tamil Nadu, analysts say the BJP has been implementing the strategy in three ways: by partially fulfilling the decades-old demand of Devendrakula Vellalars (Pallar, Pannadi, Kudumbar, Kaalaadi, Muppar, and Devendrakulathar); instating a Dalit (Arunthathiyar) as the party’s state unit president; invoking Lord Muruga, a Hindu god worshipped by the majority of backward classes.
BJP smelt the discontentment of the seven sub-sects, having a large presence in the southern districts as early as 2015 and the party’s then national president Amit Shah vowed to address their demand for the common name and their removal from the SC list during a rally in Madurai. This month, Lok Sabha passed The Constitution (SC) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2021, to give them the common name. However, they continue to remain on the SC list.
Head of Politics and Public Administration, University of Madras, Ramu Manivannan, says that the BJP is clearly indulging in caste-based mobilisation of people in Tamil Nadu. “It is nothing but political manoeuvering,” he adds. Though L Murugan from the Arunthathiyar community was elevated as the party’s state president, the move was called a sham by Dalit activists, who said that it was just an act of tokenism and to gloss over BJP’s image it is seen as an upper-caste party.
Dravidian ideology’s block
“It is impossible for the BJP to carry out communal politics in the State due to the deeply-entrenched Dravidian ideology. They very well know that the only way is to carry out caste-based politics. The friendly relationship that caste Hindus have with Muslims does not exist within Hindus due to the caste system,” says Jeya Rani, an independent journalist. Rani highlights that when Amit Shah came to the Devendrakula Vellalar conference in 2015 in Madurai, many discontented non-dominant OBC community leaders had informal meetings with him.
“BJP is a futuristic party which is aiming for results in the next ten to 15 years. With this kind of politics, they are going to inflate the contradictions existing within castes,” she warns. Manivannan notes, “Invoking Lord Murugan and engaging in ‘Vel Yatra’ is not only to lure the OBCs but also to assert a larger cultural identity. I do not think BJP has ever identified itself with the cultural identity of Tamil Nadu, which is not the same as Uttar Pradesh or West Bengal. They are going into the specifics of cultural aspects of the State.”
He, however, adds that the BJP’s attempts would have not gone deep and reached the masses. “Their presence may be felt as they are also at the Centre and allying with AIADMK; but reaping the benefits would not happen immediately,” he says. Arun Kumar, who has done a Ph.D. on politics of BJP in Tamil Nadu says that though the BJP entered the arena only in 1980, its parent organisation RSS and Hindu Munnani have been actively carrying out various initiatives to create a platform for BJP’s growth.
What’s in a name? ‘Relevance’
Stating that the Hindu Munnani is affiliated to Sangh Parivar, Kumar explains that Hindu Munnai has a Tamil word in the name to ensure it stays relevant in the State. “It was a course correction made after VHP and RSS, as the Sanskritised names failed to gain prominence in the State,” he highlights, adding that the Hindu Munnani office bearers were also largely non-Brahmins. “Despite carrying out various initiatives including anti-cow slaughter, pro-Hindi agitations, heavily-funded Vinayakar Chaturthi celebrations, etc nothing has helped BJP electorally,” Kumar said.
Various initiatives of RSS and Hindu Munnani (According to Arun Kumar)