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India Today
3 hours ago
- India Today
DMK leader downplays actor Vijay's political entry, says ‘he is not MGR'
DMK MP and party deputy general secretary A Raja took a swipe at actor Vijay, saying he may try to take the political path of MG Ramachandran (MGR) but insisted, 'he is not MGR'. In an exclusive interview with India Today, Raja acknowledged Vijay's cinema appeal but argued that without ideological grounding or leadership within the Dravidian movement, such a political entry may only have a limited asked whether the entry of actors into politics could impact DMK's vote share, Raja estimated a marginal effect of 'maybe a 5 to 7 per cent difference' but maintained that such momentum would not last. 'MGR was a DMK man and was treasurer of the party. Such an elevation is not a simple joke. His success was due to cinema fifty per cent and being a Dravidian and DMK leader fifty percent,' he said. Referring to other cinema figures who entered politics, he remarked, 'Now anyone can lay claim upon Dravidian ideology, but you are not a leader. Even Vijayakanth became Opposition leader while Karunanidhi was alive, but that momentum did not prolong.'On actor Vijay's political aspirations and his attempt to follow MGR's path, Raja said, 'Let him do so, but he is not MGR. He may take MGR's path, but he is not MGR.' He pointed out that MGR had been an MLA, MLC and later DMK treasurer, holding the third most senior position in the party. 'I do admit that with cinema fame he did split the party, but you (Vijay) are not MGR,' Raja added. Raja also lashed out at the AIADMK and its leader Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) for allying with the BJP, calling it an open invitation for the party to step into Tamil Nadu and weaken the state's Dravidian foundation. He said Chief Minister MK Stalin's call was not just to vote for the DMK alliance, but to form a unified opposition to the BJP's ideology, which he described as 'alien to Tamil Nadu for 2,000 years'.Responding to the AIADMK's continuous criticism of DMK during its campaign, Raja asserted that while Tamil Nadu may be politically divided, the core question of the election remains whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ideology should be permitted a foothold in the state. 'We are not opposing Modi or Amit Shah as individuals, but their ideology which has been alien to us for 2000 years,' he said. Raja added that the BJP's ideology 'will not be accepted' in Tamil Nadu and accused EPS of inviting Modi to the state under the guise of Chief Minister MK Stalin's call to voters, Raja said it was not a plea to support the DMK alone, but an appeal for a united front to oppose the BJP, which had been brought into the state's political arena by EPS. 'So the call made by Chief Minister MK Stalin is not for DMK or for our alliance, but to form a singular, unified alliance to oppose the BJP which has been invited by Edappadi,' he to EPS's recent invitation for parties in the DMK-led alliance to join AIADMK, Raja remarked, 'When you spread the red carpet for BJP itself, that carpet has been blocked for us.'On the DMK's prospects in the 2026 Assembly elections, Raja sounded confident, asserting that the party will return to power with more seats than in 2021. 'People are having faith in the DMK and more faith in Chief Minister MK Stalin as a leader. They believe that Tamil language, culture and identity will be protected only by our leader Stalin,' he said. Raja also dismissed the possibility of the AIADMK-BJP alliance succeeding. 'That chemistry will not work. In politics the rules of mathematical numbers do not apply. One plus one need not be two. It can become four or even minus one,' he said.- Ends IN THIS STORY#Tamil Nadu
NDTV
21 hours ago
- NDTV
K Annamalai Unlikely To Fight Tamil Nadu Polls, May Get National Role: Sources
Former Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President K Annamalai is unlikely to contest the assembly elections next year, sources said on Wednesday. The 40-year-old, who became the state party president in 2021 and stepped down in April this year, is likely to be given a responsibility at the national level, the sources added. While an official announcement on his role is awaited, Mr Annamalai exuded confidence that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), of which the BJP is a part, will win the polls in the southern state next year. "We are soldiers of the party and the party is very clear that the DMK has to be thrown out of power. The party has also made a decision. Our national leaders have made a decision that the elections will be fought under the leadership of AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami," he told NDTV. "The BJP is also getting into a battle mode. We have our party chief Nainar Nagendran. The DMK's days are numbered and instead of projecting their achievements, they only want to speak about the BJP and AIADMK. Their house is not in order. The NDA will record a historic victory next year. They (DMK) might reach their historic low of single number of seats," he added. Mr Annamalai made his electoral debut in the 2021 assembly elections from Aravakurichi constituency in Karur district and lost. He contested but lost the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The possibility of a national role for Mr Annamalai appears to be a reward for his work in the Dravidian heartland. He has been highly critical of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led government and his criticisms were initially supported by his party and its ally, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). Relations between the two allies, however, took a hit when Mr Annamalai started targeting the AIADMK leaders. In September 2023, just months before the Lok Sabha elections, the AIADMK snapped ties with the BJP reportedly over Mr Annamalai's remarks about AIADMK stalwarts, including former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. The poll campaign then for the Parliamentary elections took an interesting turn when Mr Palaniswami called Mr Annamalai a "publicity hound." The latter retaliated by relating Mr Palaniswami to "sour grapes" story for breaking poll ties with the BJP. The two parties contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections separately but, again, were thumped by the DMK. In April this year, the BJP and AIADMK reunited, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah declaring that the 2026 elections will be fought under the leadership of Mr Palaniswami. The BJP has held friendly ties with the AIADMK but has usually been kept at arm's length. The AIADMK has lost - overwhelmingly - all elections in which it allied with the BJP, including the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 Assembly polls, prompting it to look on the BJP as a liability ahead of the 2024 elections. In 2021, the AIADMK won just 75 seats - down from 136 five years earlier - and was ousted from power by the DMK-Congress combine.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Battling caste in Tamil Nadu
The idea of social justice has shaped politics in Tamil Nadu for over a century. Political parties that subscribe to E V 'Periyar' Ramasamy's anti-caste ideology have had an uninterrupted run in office since 1967. Yet, caste violence, mostly targeting Dalits and perpetrated by members of castes under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, continues to roil Tamil Nadu, highlighting not just the administrative failure of successive governments but also the ideological hypocrisy of parties subscribing to the Dravidian Movement that takes pride in its anti-caste roots. The latest incident comes from Tirunelveli in southern Tamil Nadu that boasts 90% literacy, where a 27-year-old Dalit software engineer was killed for allegedly being in a relationship with a woman from the Most Backward Caste community. The woman's parents are police sub-inspectors, and the killer is her younger brother. The district was in the spotlight two years ago when a Dalit school boy and his sister were attacked by their schoolmates. The MK Stalin government had then appointed a retired judge to investigate the matter. The exhaustive Justice Chandru report found shocking evidence of not just deep-rooted caste prejudice in institutions but also a reluctance by heads of institutions to even recognise the malaise, let alone act against it. Anecdotal evidence too suggests large-scale use of caste markers among students in educational institutions, reflecting the polarisation in society. Dalits constitute close to 20% of the state's population and have become politically assertive in the past few decades. Improvement in educational standards and a shift towards service jobs have upset the traditional power relationship, triggering caste violence. Inter-caste marriages, especially when the girl is from a dominant caste, increasingly trigger a violent response, as witnessed in Dharmapuri (2012) and Udumalaipettai (2016). Unfortunately, the administrative apparatus, including the law enforcement system, has often failed to rise above caste associations and enforce the rule of law. Political parties that invoke caste pride covertly and overtly are equally to blame. For the Dravidian majors — the DMK and the AIADMK, primarily — the anti-Dalit violence suggests the failure to transcend their core vote bases, which are OBC communities, and usher in a politics that can enable the annihilation of caste. This task has been left incomplete by parties that now view politics entirely through the prism of economic development and ignore social fault lines that call for intense ideological engagement. Tamil Nadu's crisis is also the result of its economic advancement and improvement in human development indices, and its solution lies in political parties reinventing a paradigm of social justice.
