In a time of alliances, and under the first-past-the-post system, the Naam Tamilar Katchi (We are Tamils party) in Tamil Nadu stays clear of seat adjustments and compromises. The party lost its deposit in all the 39 seats, but it garnered more than 8 percent of the total votes and won recognition as a state party.
NTK founder S Seeman was evidently trying to prove a point than win a seat. Of the 39 candidates, 19 were women. All the candidates were highly qualified professionals without criminal cases or money power.
But that was not the point. Seeman wanted to demonstrate his aversion to all other parties, and adopt a no-compromise-on-principles approach. This attitude to elections itself won him the support of sections of the youth. He was essentially channeling the dissatisfaction with the political class among the new generation of voters.
However, the rise of the NTK with the director turned politician Seeman at the head is worrying for very different reasons. At the core of his agenda is Tamil nationalism, which encourages greater affinity with Sri Lankan Tamils than with the people of the neighbouring Dravidian states, let alone the rest of India. In his eagerness to debunk the Dravidian parties, he projects the Tamil identity as distinct from both the so-called Dravidian and Aryan identities. The BJP and the Congress are just different sides of the same coin; so are the DMK and the AIADMK the different sides of another detestable coin, according to the NTK narrative.
Support for the banned LTTE, which was a secessionist terrorist group in Sri Lanka, is also another distinct characteristic of the NTK. Glowing references to the slain LTTE chief Prabakaran punctuate his speeches. The party flag bears the face of a tiger that had adorned the flags of the LTTE and the ancient Cholas.
Despite finishing fourth in the Lok Sabha polls, NTK achieved its goal of winning recognition as a state party. Forming the party in 2010, NTK polled 1.76 percent vote share in the first (Assembly) election it fought in 2016, increasing it to 3.87 percent in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, 6.58 percent in 2021 Assembly polls and in the just concluded Lok Sabha polls it got 8.19 percent vote share.
It has managed to reduce the margin of victory of the DMK in some of the Constituencies, pushing the BJP-led NDA candidates to the fourth position in some and ate from AIADMK vote bank. Its recognition as a state party has attracted kudos from actor-politician Kamal Hassan and even the state BJP chief K Annamalai complimented NTK for fighting the polls “honestly, without bribing and without a proper organisational base”.
NTK finds its origin in Naam Tamilar, a party founded in 1958 by SP Adithanar, which merged with the DMK in 1967. Seeman revived the party with the aim to make it an alternative to mainstream parties in the state. But with its open support for a separate Tamil nation and secessionist ideas it is constantly under the radar of the security agencies.
Among its principles is the formation of a Tamil Eelam state, state autonomy and federalism, elimination of caste/religion based exploitation and dominance, equal rights for everyone, equal opportunities for women as their birthright, justice without political interference, administration without bribery and healthcare as basic human rights.
The NTK has decided to contest the Vikravandi Assembly by-poll on July 10 and has decided to approach the ECI for a permanent symbol.
Although it is far from being a viable alternative to the Dravidian parties or the two national parties, the NTK is likely to encroach on the voter mind space slowly and steadily.
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