The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the BJP’s biggest ally in southern India, has quit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at a time the ruling party at the Centre has been trying to enlarge its presence in the region and shed the tag of being a “Hindi heartland party”.
The BJP’s perceived attempts to swallow the political space of its partners after earning a toehold, a holier-than-thou attempt to cast itself as morally superior, and a latent partiality to the Brahminical order that reared its head during the Sanatan Dharma controversy are being seen as the reasons behind the rupture in the run-up to the general election.
A recent statement by Union home minister Amit Shah, setting a target of winning at least 25 of the 39 seats in the state in 2024, had set alarm bells ringing in the AIADMK. The statement was interpreted as a signal that the BJP was looking to contest more seats, reducing the AIADMK to a junior partner in the alliance. The AIADMK had led the NDA in Tamil Nadu in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as well as the 2021 Assembly elections.
The heartburn in the AIADMK caused by Shah’s target revived memories of Jayalalithaa taking on the BJP and its mascot Narendra Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections with the one-liner: “This lady is better than Modi.”
The AIADMK had then won a landslide, bagging 38 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats. After striking the alliance with the BJP, the AIADMK could win only one seat in 2019 with minorities deserting it. This time, the BJP and the AIADMK appear to be competing with each other for the principal Opposition’s space in the state.
The AIADMK has become the fourth major ally since 2019 to dump the BJP, following in the footsteps of the Janata Dal (United), Akali Dal and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray).
Barring some regional and sub-regional outfits, the BJP now does not have any notable partner in the NDA.
In Chennai on Monday, a meeting led by AIADMK general secretary and former chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami unanimously decided to snap ties with the BJP and the NDA, “respecting the sentiments of two crore party cadres and in deference to their wishes”.
The announcement ends the post-Jayalalithaa bonhomie between the AIADMK and the BJP that took off in 2017.
The BJP termed the AIADMK’s decision to sever ties with the saffron party as “very unfortunate”. BJP state president Annamalai, whose uncharitable remarks were seen as a reflection of the rift, refrained from any direct comment, saying the party’s national leadership would respond.
Former minister K.P. Munusamy told reporters here that the BJP state leadership’s continuing barrage of disparaging remarks and abusive criticism of the AIADMK had deeply offended its cadres. Munusamy said the AIADMK would lead an alliance of its own in the general election.
Arrayed on the other side is the alliance led by the ruling DMK, partnering the Congress and the Left. Led by chief minister M.K. Stalin, the DMK has been taking an aggressive stance against the BJP.
While fissures had emerged over the past year, the decision by state BJP chief Annamalai to take an aggressive stand and drop hints that his party would replace the AIADMK as the main Opposition in Tamil Nadu appears to have widened the differences.
The flashpoint came last week when Annamalai made controversial remarks on the Dravidian movement icon and former chief minister C.N. Annadurai.
The state BJP chief, who is on a Tamil Nadu yatra now, told a rally in Madurai, while referring to the Sanatan Dharma debate, about an incident that purportedly took place at the Meenakshi Temple in 1956. He said the late Forward Bloc leader, Pasumponn Muthuramalinga Thevar, had warned Annadurai against his rationalist remarks. “Annadurai ran away from Madurai” after that face-off, Annamalai had claimed, triggering outrage in the state.
Some analysts smelt an attempt by the BJP to pit the legacy of Thevar, an influential OBC leader, against the supporters of Annadurai.
Annamalai’s remarks enraged the AIADMK too. Although founded by actor-turned-politician M.G. Ramachandran (MGR), the AIADMK has been named after Annadurai. The “Anna” in AIADMK stands for the late Annadurai.
Annamalai recently called the AIADMK “equally corrupt as the DMK”, alluding to Jayalalithaa being convicted in the assets case and prompting a strong condemnation from her party.
Annamalai’s unflinching verbal attacks and criticism targeting “front-ranking leaders” of the Dravidian Movement and his attempts to show other founder-leaders of the movement like Periyar Ramaswamy in a poor light had escalated the divisions with the AIADMK.
The AIADMK had also been worried that it would further lose the minorities’ support if it continued its ties with the BJP.
