The BJP, which is desperately trying to break into Tamil Nadu politics and increase its seat tally in the Lok Sabha elections, has used several methods to get into the social and political firmament of the state.
BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman and other senior leaders are in and out of Tamil Nadu at regular intervals and announcing new projects for the state ever so often.
The BJP is also trying to embrace Tamil cultural identities in order to piggy ride on the popularity of these icons to gain political mileage ahead of the general elections.
It remains to be seen whether these aggressive measures will help the BJP raise its seat tally in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP drew a blank in the 2019 general elections and could garner only 3.66 per cent of the total votes polled. Its alliance partners AIADMK got 19.39 per cent votes, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) received 5.36 per cent and the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) got 2.16 per cent of the vote share. Interestingly, the DMK bagged 33.52 per cent of the vote share.
This shows that the BJP, on its own, will not be able to make a mark in the state unless it works out new permutations and combinations.
It should be noted that the BJP is not in a political alliance with the AIADMK and fighting a Lok Sabha election on its own will not help the saffron party achieve the desired results.
However, the BJP is trying to get the support of the dissident wing of the AIADMK led by former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, former interim general secretary of the party, VK Sasikala and her nephew and former MLA, TTV Dhinakaran.
VK Sasikala, who was the close aide of late Chief Minister and AIADMK leader, J Jayalalithaa, has several contacts in the AIADMK at the grass root levels and the new political outfit floated by her nephew, Dhinakaran, Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK) has its own share of voters in southern Tamil Nadu.
The BJP is trying to ride piggyback on the influence of OPS, Sasikala and Dhinakaran in the powerful Thevar community and convert this into support for itself in the Lok Sabha elections.
However the BJP’s moves to embrace Thiruvalluvar, Subramania Bharathi and political leaders like K Kamaraj and MGR may not yield the fruits it expects as these Tamil icons are etched in the minds of Tamilians as doyens of the Dravidian movement.
After the AIADMK broke its alliance with the BJP due to the utterances of an immature leader like K. Annamalai, the BJP has lost major support that it could have banked upon in the 2024 elections.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, the BJP could win four seats including that of Coimbatore South, wherein the Mahila Morcha National President, Vanathi Srinivasan defeated Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan who is also the president of the Makkal Needhi Maiam party.
This and the other three wins in the Assembly elections were purely due to the BJP-AIADMK alliance and with that alliance snapped, the possibility of BJP extending influence in these seats is remote.
Plus, the BJP embracing Thiruvalluvar, a Tamil cultural icon by draping him in saffron instead of his usual white robes has not gone down well with the Tamil populace.
R Ragahunath, Retired Professor of Sociology and Director of Institute of Social Research, Tiruchi while speaking to IANS said, “The BJP should never have draped Thiruvalluvar in saffron. It has not gone down well with the people of Tamil Nadu as the great saint was always depicted as wearing white. Why to paint him saffron? This will have a negative impact on the fortunes of the BJP and whoever has given this advice, will repent in a post-poll scenario.”
The BJP trying to usurp the identity of former Chief Minister and Congress leader, K. Kamaraj has also not gone down well with the masses as everyone knows what Kamaraj represented in his political carrier.
There were mass protests by the Congress cadre on this move by the BJP and the local media also strongly took up the issue.
The AIADMK is also not happy with the BJP trying to use the legacy of former Chief Minister MG Ramachandran (MGR) and in the 2024 elections this could also go against the saffron party.
However the Kashi-Tamil Sangamam, the Saurashtra-Tamil Sangamam and increasing the importance of Ayothyapatinam, where a Sree Rama temple is situated are some moves that could give the BJP a semblance of respect among the people of the state.
In the days to come there will be serious discussions and confabulations but if the BJP does not stitch up a strong alliance, then the possibility of the saffron party winning even a single seat is difficult.
