Facing resistance from Thevars, EPS rekindles Madurai Airport renaming debate

Palaniswami’s announcement comes close on heels of T T V Dhinakaran and O Panneerselvam, both Mukulathors, quitting NDA.

Chennai: To regain the trust of the Mukulathors -- a numerically strong and politically influential community in Central and Southern Tamil Nadu --AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has revived the contentious proposal to rename Madurai Airport, an issue previously pushed to the backseat by political parties due to its sensitive nature. 

During his speeches in Dindigul district on Sunday, Palaniswami promised to nudge the Union Government to name the Madurai Airport after community icon Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar, a polarising figure due to caste tensions.

He also said the AIADMK will recommend that Thevar be posthumously conferred the coveted Bharat Ratna award by the Centre. 

The announcement drew sharp attacks from Puthiya Tamilagam (PT) and Tamilaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK), which champion the cause of Devendra Kula Vellalars, a sub-sect of Dalits. They asked Palaniswami to avoid election-driven promises with “narrow interests.” 

Mukulathors -- comprising Kallars, Agamudaiyars, and Maravars -- and Devendra Kula Vellalars have a chequered history, marked by frequent clashes, including the 1957 Mudukulathur riots, triggered by the murder of DVK leader Immanuel Sekaran, in which Thevar was accused. 

DVKs have been demanding that the airport be named after Sekaran since the facility came up on land originally owned by them. Thevar is considered a demi-god by the Mukulathors, while Dalits denounce him. 

It was because of the demands from both communities to name the airport after their leaders that the issue was consciously pushed to the backseat – even stalwarts like M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa dealt with the issue with utmost caution.  

However, the announcement is seen as an attempt by Palaniswami to rebuild bridges with the Thevar community, which has favoured the AIADMK since the time of its founding by the late M G Ramachandran in 1972. But his actions of expelling V K Sasikala, her nephew Dhinakaran, and Panneerselvam, who is a Gounder, another dominant caste from the western region, over the years made the Thevars drift from the AIADMK, albeit for now. 

The party was pushed to the third position in many Mukulathor-dominated Lok Sabha seats in 2024 polls with the BJP and its allies like OPS and TTV emerging as the runner-up. 

The timing of Palaniswami’s latest announcement is also intriguing – it comes close on heels of T T V Dhinakaran and O Panneerselvam, both Mukulathors have quit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu, indirectly blaming him and calls within and outside the party for the “unification of AIADMK.”

The announcement will not just distance the Devendra Kula Vellalars from the AIADMK, but also cause substantial damage to the BJP’s social engineering of bringing together the Mukulathors and DVK in southern districts, which was a marginal success in 2024. 

PT leader K Krishnasamy, who contested the 2024 elections on AIADMK symbol, asked Palaniswami to focus his attention and energy fixing the problems within his party rather than stepping foot on such issues. “If you continue with such efforts, you will even lose what you currently have,” he added. 

Prof K A Manikumar, who has chronicled caste rivalries in the region, told DH that Palaniswami’s strategy is aimed at Mukulathor realignment to restore his “lost credibility” with the community. 

“This is a calculated move ahead of the 2026 elections, but it risks disastrous consequences by rekindling traditional rivalries. Palaniswami may believe it diverts attention from his resistance to calls for AIADMK unity, but he could be mistaken,” Manikumar said.