DMK-led coalition challenges BJP with its brand of welfarism, Dravidian ideology

Chennai: With the BJP trying to break into Tamil politics and win as many Lok Sabha seats as possible in the forthcoming General Elections, the ruling coalition led by the DMK is using a combination of welfarism and an aggressive emphasis on Dravidian ideology to pour water on its opponent's plans.

After K Annamalai, a former IPS officer of the Karnataka cadre became the state President of the BJP, the saffron party has had some aggressive spats with the DMK and the AIADMK leading to the BJP-AIADMK alliance breaking up.

He came out against the DMK’s first family, the Chief Minister and his Cabinet ministers, accusing them of graft.

The DMK retorted with charges of political vendetta against the BJP and accused it of unleashing central investigating agencies against Opposition party leaders. The party also came out heavily against Sanatana Dharma and Chief Minister Stalin’s son and Tamil Nadu Minister for Sports Development and Youth Welfare, Udayanidhi Stalin brought the issue centre stage in Tamil politics.

Taking on the BJP and the Hindutva forces, Udayanidhi in a public programme said that, Sanatana Dharma was like “dengue and malaria” and that it “has to be eradicated.”

Senior leader of the DMK and former Union Minister A. Raja went a step ahead and stated that Hindu religion was a "menace to the entire world" and Dravidian ideology was "superior" to Hinduism because it propagated "equality in society."

The DMK commenced this campaign one year before the elections, to evoke the memories of EVS Ramaswamy Periyar who was the proponent of Dravidian ideology and the one who proposed equality in Tamil society.

C. Rajeev, Director, Centre for Policy and Development Studies, a think tank based out of Chennai told IANS that, “DMK is trying to evoke Dravidian ideology and driving the theory that Tamil Nadu’s public welfare schemes are driven by the Government’s Dravidian roots.”

The DMK and its allies will be campaigning on the work done by the Stalin Government and the various welfare measures it has undertaken to improve the lives of people in the state in its two-and-half-years of rule. The Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam scheme which literally means ‘bringing health to your doorstep’ is a flagship programme of the DMK Government wherein, medical professionals go from house to house conducting medical check-ups.

If they find any ailment, the patient is referred to the nearby Primary Health Centre. This scheme is a huge hit among the people and more than half the population of Tamil Nadu has benefited from this.

The free bus rides for women in state-run transport buses have been a boon for women from the economically weaker strata of society. Women who do multiple jobs have benefitted from the scheme and the free bus trips help them save good money. This is of advantage to the DMK in the run up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The DMK Government has announced Rs 1,000 for women under the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam (Kalaignar Women's Rights Grant Scheme) and all women and transgenders above the age of 21 years are eligible for the scheme if their annual family income is not over Rs 2.5 lakh.

The DMK is planning to counter the BJP in Tamil Nadu on the basis of the progress report of its government, including the welfare schemes, improved law and order situation and the huge investments that the state is attracting.

The INDIA bloc in Tamil Nadu is much stronger compared to other states and the DMK has always managed its coalition partners well by sharing the seats in a proper manner.

These factors, according to the DMK will stand the front in good stead and the BJP will not be able to make a mark in the general elections in Tamil Nadu.

Veteran leader and state Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan who is also the state General Secretary of the DMK, while speaking to the media at his constituency, Katpadi on Pongal Day said that the DMK was not worried about the Lok Sabha elections and was ready to fight it even if it was held the next day.

The BJP, with a meager 3.66 per cent vote share in the 2019 General Elections is expecting too much from Tamil Nadu and with the AIADMK already snapping ties with the saffron party, the possibilities of BJP making any major impact in the ensuing polls are remote.