Annamalai's induction part of BJP’s 'grand plans' for Tamil Nadu

BJP knows it will be a long haul for the party in Tamil Nadu, where the Dravidian ideology has been ruling the roost ever since Congress was thrown out of power

Former IPS officer K Annamalai’s induction into the BJP cannot be seen in isolation, as he is part of the BJP’s concerted efforts to project itself as an alternative to the Dravidian ideology in Tamil Nadu and shed the Brahminic image it has acquired.

BJP feels 36-year-old Annamalai, who retired from the Indian Police Service last year after serving in Karnataka for nine years, is a 'good catch' for the party as it leaves no stone unturned to make its presence felt in Tamil Nadu whose politics has been hegemonized by the DMK and AIADMK since 1967.

With a Dalit L Murugan as the president, a former DMK man V P Duraisamy, who also belongs to the same community as one of the vice-presidents of the state unit, and by inducting leaders from Other Backward Class (OBC) and other communities, the BJP has taken the first step towards 'social engineering' in a state where it hardly has any presence, albeit for now.

Annamalai hails from the dominant Gounder community, much like Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, and the BJP feels his 'clean image' and his 'impressive record' as a policeman would help to strike a chord with the youngsters and its cause for an alternative political ideology in the state.

However, the party’s recruitment spree that has resulted in several people with criminal records getting appointed would sully its 'clean party' image. And the BJP has been reaching out to other dominant communities like Thevars in southern Tamil Nadu and Vanniyars in the northern part of the state for some time now.

Gounders are a very dominant force in Western Tamil Nadu, comprising of seven districts, and the BJP feels the predominantly business community has a 'soft-corner' for them and inducting a man of their own might tilt at least a section of their votes towards the saffron party. The entrepreneurial Gounders have favoured a BJP government at the Centre and the party has a structure of its own in the western districts, especially in Coimbatore and Tiruppur.

That Annamalai is already being criticized heavily for his views on the reservation and three language policy to cite a few is a different story altogether.

Political analysts feel that mass recruitment of leaders and administrations from backward communities and other under-privileged sections are part of the BJP’s 'grand plans' for Tamil Nadu where they want to completely cut off the Dravidian baseline.

BJP knows it will be a long haul for the party in Tamil Nadu, where the Dravidian ideology has been ruling the roost ever since the Congress was thrown out of power in 1967 by the then-fledgeling DMK, and dismantling the Dravidian majors in one election is almost impossible.

It is also a fact that the BJP is still seen as a 'Hindian' party for its obsession with Hindi, but the saffron outfit is making every effort not to shed the image, but to change the people’s mind by 'counselling them on how a third language' would bring better employment and economic opportunities.

“They (BJP) are here, absolutely for a long haul. They want to completely cut off the Dravidian baseline because Tamil Nadu is the only state that challenges the BJP’s style of politics. And since Tamil Nadu possesses a distinct identity, they want to wipe it off and bring the state to the so-called mainstream,” Prof Ramu Manivannan, Head of the Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Madras, told DH.

He added that the BJP is attempting at a social engineering method that has been successfully implemented in Uttar Pradesh three decades ago, by bringing together communities that have felt marginalized by the ruling class in Tamil Nadu.

Another political analyst, who did not wish to be quoted, told DH that the BJP wants to lead the anti-DMK stream in Tamil Nadu in the future and that is the reason the party has been trying to project the 2021 election as a fight between it and the DMK, much to the discomfiture of its ally AIADMK.

“The BJP wants to attempt a social engineering method in Tamil Nadu like it did in many states, especially Uttar Pradesh. The party has been identifying communities that have not been adequately represented in politics and tapping them. Only time can tell how far they will be successful, but they are making a clear attempt to shed their pro-Brahmin image,” he added.