Updated: November 18, 2020 5:32:35 pm
A file photo of Amit Shah in Chennai in 2018 (PTI).
Tamil Nadu goes to the polls in about six months. BJP Top Leader and Union Interior Minister Amit Shah plans to visit the state this weekend (November 21) to apparently discuss his party’s plans for the elections with alliance partners AIADMK and PMK.
However, given that the BJP designs different plans to conquer the state’s electoral politics with its “nationalist” ideas, it must be remembered that, except for some upper-class urban sectors, land and language have always been inseparable entities of life. ordinary of the Tamils. . And it is these two cultural entities that make the journey of the saffron festival in the Dravidian state difficult.
BJP growth in Tamil Nadu
In the months following Jayalalithaa’s death in December 2016, BJP had successfully organized, or was accused of orchestrating, a series of unusual events in the state: split in AIADMK through a revolt by then-Chief Minister O Panneerselvam ; a series of high-profile raids by central agencies against leading businessmen, bureaucrats and senior cabinet members linked to AIADMK; and a merger of rival factions secured the expulsion of Jayalalithaa’s close aide, VK Sasikala, and his family from the party.
The result of these events caused the top AIADMK leaders, who lacked sophisticated skills to deal with an aggressive national party, to take the BJP into their alliance ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, it had to pay a huge price for the decision: AIADMK lost 38 of the 39 seats in the Lok Sabha. 📣 Click to follow Express Explained on Telegram
Even when the people voted against the AIADMK-BJP alliance in the Lok Sabha elections, it is significant to note that AIADMK fared better in 22 assembly seats where it went alone, winning nine of them and saving the Edappadi K government. Palaniswami to lose the most on camera.
In 2016 assembly polls, BJP had a 2.86 percent share of the vote, more than key allies DMK, CPI, CPM and VCK had collected. Even when the Lok Sabha polls gave the BJP a setback, the party leadership is hoping to win at least five to ten seats in the next assembly elections.
Furthermore, it is the number of seats that the national party would obtain to contest in the AIADMK alliance, rather than the number of seats it would obtain, which would show its importance in the next elections.
Cold war in the alliance
AIADMK leadership continues to show a tough face to BJP on various issues. Recently, AIADMK spoiled BJP’s highly publicized attempt to take home a month-long ‘Vel Yatra’ in the state, a rath yatra-inspired rally that celebrates and visits six abodes of the popular Tamil Hindu god Lord Muruga. BJP leaders, who are trying to challenge the ban against Vel Yatra, continue to be arrested. Two days ago, the AIADMK spokesperson compared BJP to Karuppar Koottam, an unheard of YouTube channel charged under the Goonda Law for a video hurting the religious feelings of Hindus. In multiple statements, senior AIADMK leaders made it clear that no effort to stoke communal tensions in the state will be allowed, a clear message to their BJP ally. The Dravidian majority continues to show muscle against the BJP and its local leadership.
BJP’s increasing visibility in the state
Although Tamil Nadu remains difficult terrain for the BJP with the party still struggling to register its presence at the grassroots level, the party’s visibility in the media has multiplied over the past four years.
There is not a single popular political debate show on Tamil television that does not feature a BJP representative these days. Also, several big controversies in the recent past revolved around the BJP or created it themselves.
The national party has also begun to invest more resources in its campaigns, which may be much more than what DMK and AIADMK have done on social media.
For example, almost a dozen teaser videos were released for Vel Yatra, and one of the videos sparked controversy for using the image of AIADMK founder MGR Significantly, the videos were high-quality editing and graphics, often projecting to the BJP head of state. unity, L Murugan, as the prominent face of the party. Asserting their prominence at the party, celebrating their devotion to Lord Muruga, and calling him the savior of the Tamil Hindus, most of these videos often resembled sequences of songs from superstars in Tamil movies.
Most expensive in BJP
BJP has been on a recruiting spree in the state since 2014. In recent years, it has attracted celebrities, bureaucrats, politicians from other parties, and even some people with criminal records. Recently, the joining of actor-turned-politician Khushbu to the BJP was a significant event.
Last on the list could be MK Alagiri, eldest son of the late head of DMK M Karunanidhi, whom the BJP leadership is actively pursuing even as his proposed new team to join BJP might have to do with embarrassing Karunanidhi’s family.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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