CHENNAI: Maestro Ilaiyaraaja has never been seen through the prism of caste. But critics of the BJP do not rule out the saffron brigade’s bid to woo dalits by getting the music composer to write a foreword for a book, comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi with BR Ambedkar.
This is just one more attempt, and the latest one by the BJP, which has been consistently making a strong pitch to bring dalits in Tamil Nadu into its fold. Not long ago, the BJP had fielded Ilaiyaraaja’s brother Gangai Amaran as the party’s candidate for the assembly by poll in RK Nagar, Chennai. More popular in its dalit outreach bid was to make L Murugan, an arunthathiyar, a community at the bottom of the social hierarchy, as the state unit chief and subsequently a Union minister of state.
With every passing year, the BJP has only intensified its measures for dalits. If clubbing together seven dalit sub-sects and calling them devendrakula vellalar (a long pending demand) was one such attempt prior to the 2021 assembly election, extended celebration of Ambedkar birth anniversary now is another move.
The reason is simple. According to 2011 estimates, dalits form about 21% of the population in Tamil Nadu with a booklet to decide the political outcome in more than 20 districts. But for the BJP, getting the backing of dalits is a task easier said than done. Not only because of the perception that it is anti-Dalit due to its campaign against beef and for bringing in the economically weaker section quota, but also because the dalit vote division remained settled for years. Parayars, who are concentrated in northern districts, largely back Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), while devendrakula vellalars in southern TN are known to back the Puthiya Tamilagam (PT) and a section of them the DMK. The arunthathiyars in the western belt are hardcore supporters of the AIADMK from the MGR era.
But BJP fuunctionaries say their efforts have started paying off. “Devendrakula vellalars are on our side. They voted for us in large numbers in the last assembly election. Even arunthathiyars have shifted their support to us which was seen in segments in Aravakurichi and Coimbatore south,” said Pon V Balaganapathy, president of SC Morcha, Tamil Nadu.
Balaganapathy said after parayars, devendrakula vellalars and arunthathiyars, the fourth largest dalit community are kuravars who are concentrated in districts like Tiruvannamalai, Erode, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and Virudhunagar. “We have started focusing on them too. That’s why the DMK too has started appeasing narikuravars by visiting their houses,” Balaganapathy said.
The BJP leaders say the requirements of the four dalit communities differ. “We are identifying them and will soon roll out welfare programs for them,” he said.
It is not the first time that the BJP has had a dalit state chief. Back in 2000 it made SP Kirubanidhi, a dalit doctor from Villupuram, the state chief. But soon after, Kirubanidhi exited the BJP, alleging caste discrimination.
After a hiatus, the BJP renewed its efforts as it started chalking out a fresh TN policy in the wake of its 2014 Lok Sabha poll victory. In a 2016 public meeting in Coimbatore, Modi said the BJP government was taking steps to turn Ambedkar’s London house into a memorial. “Plans are afoot to build another memorial for him in Mumbai. So, these people (opposition parties) are worried dalits would align with the BJP. Hence they are spreading canards in a desperate attempt to drive a wedge between dalits and the party,” he said. Ironically, his speech came hours after scores of people showed black flags to him for dalit scholar Rohith Vemula’s death.
Modi famously said in February 2021 that his name Narendra rhymes with Devendra. “I understand their emotions,” he said.
TN BJP vice-president P Kanagasabapathy says the BJP was always with dalits. “Right from Jana Sangh period we are working for and with dalits even when the Congress was against Ambedkar,” he said. “From the national level to the branch level in villages, at least one functional should be a dalit. Around 25% of ministers in our cabinet are dalits and ST,” he said.
The BJP says efforts of the DMK like having a dalit mayor in the Chennai corporation was mere tokenism. “We are not doing it for votes and this is not appeasement. We want to empower them,” he said. But the BJP knows it’s a daunting task in TN to win over dalits. “Here the impact of Dravidian narrative is more. But we are making efforts and when dalits understand the difference between the BJP and other parties, they will come to us,” Kanagasabapathy said.
Political observer C Lakshmanan says the BJP was exploiting the void left by the DMK, AIADMK, Congress and Left parties in empowering dalits over the past several decades. “But the BJP outreach will not succeed to a large extent. To a certain level they have tasted success with regard to devendrakula vellalar. But it cannot be replicated with other communities,” he said.
Writer Stalin Rajangam said dalit outreach plays a crucial role in the saffron party’s bid to grow in TN. Dalits also pose the biggest challenge for the BJP when it comes to its Hindutva agenda. And the party wants to stop religious conversions of Dalits, he said. “But results so far are not on a par with their expectations electorally. That is why they are approaching apolitical icons like Ilaiyaraaja” he said.