In Periyar’s land, BJP switches to a soft-Dravidian line

Representative image

Many eyebrows were raised when Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president L Murugan, during the birth anniversary of Dravidar Kazhagam founder EV Ramasamy, respectfully addressed the latter as “Periyar”, a word generally used by the common people. It was surprising since Right-wing leaders have vowed not to refer to him as ‘Periyar’ and address him only through his initials EVR. Leaders of the state unit were finding it a pleasure to run down the Dravidian icon as and when possible, and one of them, H Raja, who was the party’s national secretary wanted all Periyar statues to be razed to the ground.

In a major U-turn, Murugan also said “We are ready to acknowledge and praise Periyar for his contribution to the state”. No BJP leader in the past has spoken in such a manner, and, in fact, they vied with each other in coming out with humiliating and insulting comments against Periyar. The statues of Periyar were vandalised and desecrated in many parts of the state by mobs in the dead of night. Every party in Tamil Nadu has condemned the insults to the leader, but no state BJP leader has come forward to condemn such acts, giving the impression that the saffron party is behind such miscreants.

Murugan also threw a major surprise when he condemned the vandalism of Periyar statue on September 27 in Tiruchy. This is the first time when a state BJP leader is condemning the vandalising of a rationalist leader’s statue. When the national leadership nominated Murugan for the state leader’s post, it was seen as a strategy to woo the Dalits, especially Arunthathiyars in the western belt of the state. Murugan’s commendations for Periyar have taken the other leaders, mostly from the upper castes, by surprise, and they were fuming at his newfound love for their declared enemy for decades.

More shock was in store for them as the BJP’s central leadership removed hardline Hindutva leader H Raja from the national secretary’s post. Besides, P Muralidhar Rao, who was in charge of Tamil Nadu party affairs, has been removed, sending the message that Murugan’s acts are part of a well-devised strategy to change the party’s image of belonging to and dominated by the upper castes. Rao, surrounded mostly by leaders from the elite groups, has openly approved the anti-Periyar tirade unleashed by the party.

Raja’s removal and the omission of all the state leaders from national posts have made Murugan, a Dalit leader, the BJP’s face in the Dravidian heartland. His sudden praise for Periyar is neither an accident nor an individual opinion. With seven months to go for assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, the saffron party is moving to embrace the hues of black and blue, the colours symbolising the principles of Periyar and Ambedkar.

For decades, BJP was trying to bulldoze Periyar and his ideals in its birthplace. Now, suddenly, it has found that its attempts to take on the rationalist leader’s ideas have only boomeranged on it. Every word they had spoken against the iconic leader has only provoked people’s resentment, besides giving an ‘upper caste’ and ‘anti-Tamil’ image to the party.

The party’s upper caste leaders who were dominating it for decades are not happy with the new line taken by the central leadership. They assert that such a sudden volte face will only turn the party into a laughing stock, and erode the loyal upper castes sections backing it for years. The section of vernacular media supporting the saffron party is also seething with anger at the new line taken by the party, and openly advocating return to the earlier tough Hindutva stand. Murugan, who is a Dalit leader, finds himself at the receiving end of attacks from the Right-wing leaning media itself for showing respect to Periyar.

The upper caste lobby within the party is working overtime to reverse the party’s soft-Dravidian stance and accommodate some of them in the national organisation before the elections. It is to be seen if the central leadership bows to their pressure or not. Even if the central leaders remain firm, whether the new strategy, coming belatedly, will fetch electoral dividends is the major question in everyone’s lips now.

However, the followers of the Dravidian icon are not pleased as they view this soft-pedalling as a ploy to capture votes in Tamil Nadu. They point out that the policies of Periyar and the RSS are diametrically opposite to each other. Comparing the BJP’s tactics with ‘Trojan horses’, they contend that Tamil youth can easily recognise this red herring from the BJP.

N Ravikumar is a Chennai-based senior journalist. Views are personal.