AIADMK, BJP spar over Vetrivel Yatra days before Amit Shah’s Chennai visit

The alliance between the ruling AIADMK and the BJP in Tamil Nadu has run into friction over the saffron social gathering’s Vetrivel Yatra with the previous insisting that it’s going to not permit any procession that goals to disrupt the peace and the concord within the state.

“Tamil Nadu will not allow any procession or yatra that seeks to divide people in the name of caste or religion,” acknowledged a column printed Monday within the AIADMK’s mouthpiece, Namadhu Amma.

The standoff between the allies comes forward of the go to of Union dwelling minister Amit Shah to Chennai on November 21 to strategize with BJP’s state unit for the 2021 meeting elections. On Sunday, BJP’s state president L Murugan, introduced that Shah will attend authorities programmes and his maiden go to since taking on as Union minister was anticipated to spice up the morale of the cadre.

The BJP has lately appointed its nationwide common secretary CT Ravi as in-charge of the state. The social gathering has been making an attempt to make inroads into Tamil Nadu the place it’s battling a notion of being an outsider. The social gathering which swept the 2014 and 2019 common elections hasn’t been in a position to recreate its electoral dominance in Tamil Nadu. The DMK gained 37 of 38 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 drubbing the AIADMK-BJP mix. But within the meeting bypolls carried out concurrently, AIADMK gained 9 of the 22 seats to retain energy. The DMK gained 13.

While the AIADMK has been a loyal accomplice by supporting BJP’s stance on the Centre on points such because the CAA, triple talaq and the farm payments, it has asserted itself lately within the state’s pursuits on problems with NEET and NEP. An AIADMK chief who didn’t want to be named mentioned that any truck with the BJP will have an effect on their efficiency. Political observers additionally say that the BJP desires to be seen as a contender towards the DMK.

The month-long Vetrivel yatra was designed to consolidate the Hindu vote financial institution by invoking Lord Muruga, a well-liked deity amongst the Tamils. The BJP desires to reveal what it views as “anti-Hindu and anti-Tamil propaganda”. The yatra stemmed from an issue when BJP went up towards a Youtube channel Karuppar Kootam which ridiculed Kandha Sashti Kavasam, a devotional hymn devoted to Lord Muruga.

“It seems like Lord Muruga is being hijacked by the Aryan discourse,” mentioned Ramu Manivannan, head, politics and public administration division, University of Madras. “BJP is bringing in a Hindu narrative which may create some dent but that number will be insignificant. Radicalisation of the Hindus in the north is different. While the Ram mandir issue is a captivating situation in the north, people in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have been marching for Lord Muruga for a long time, so they don’t need BJP to campaign for them now.”

Though BJP leaders say they’re damage with the opinion piece within the AIADMK mouthpiece and really feel it was pointless, each events preserve that there isn’t a pressure of their ties even whereas their representatives wrangle over the matter on the Madras excessive court docket.

“Both Karuppar Kootam and those holding saffron flags should understand that unity and harmony prevails in Tamil Nadu,” mentioned the AIADMK opinion piece. This was in response to BJP’s newly appointed Mahila Morcha nationwide president, Vanathi Srinivasan’s feedback on the yatra. Srinivasan clarmed that the AIADMK misunderstood her feedback. “We are alliance partners but that doesn’t mean we will not raise people’s issues,” Srinivasan mentioned. “We want to expose the hypocrisy of political parties in the state who don’t object to those ridiculing Hindu dharma.”

The BJP has accused opposition DMK chief M Okay Stalin of backing the arrested members of the Youtube group. DMK denied any position in it however has steered away from commenting on the yatra.

“The BJP is thinking that they will pit the Tamil parties as being against religion. But opposition parties will pitch it as a Dravidian versus Aryan discourse,” mentioned Manivannan. “Tamil Nadu views them as communalising the social environment. They are unlikely to eat into DMK’s Hindu votes.”