Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai during the \u2018En mann, en makkal\u2019 padyatra in Ramanathapuram district. (Image: @K.Annamalai\/Twitter)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
With a call to vote out the \u201ccorrupt\u201d DMK government, the strategy has been clear ever since former IPS officer K Annamalai took over as state unit chief: speak the Dravidian political language but sting like BJP<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\nFormer IPS officer K Annamalai, who has been tasked with turning the Tamil Nadu BJP into a force to be reckoned with, has just started a \u2018padyatra\u2019 from Rameswaram. Union home minister Amit Shah, who flagged it off, sent a clarion call to the people of the state to vote out the \u201ccorrupt\u201d DMK government in the upcoming elections.<\/p>\n
Calling it \u2018En mann, en makkal\u2019 (My land, my people), the BJP has set off on a journey that aims at an indigenous-sounding political approach. For an electorate oozing a Dravidian rhetoric of \u2018State versus Centre\u2019, the BJP\u2019s approach could prove to be disarming.<\/p>\n
If one were to connect the dots ever since Annamalai took over as the state BJP chief, the party\u2019s strategy has been clear: speak the Dravidian political language but sting like the BJP. The \u2018DMK Files\u2019 campaign, trying to establish the MK Stalin-led party as corrupt; consecutive ED raids on the state\u2019s two powerful ministers, V Senthil Balaji and K Ponmudy, which clearly hints at more such events in future; and a padyatra to take the campaign to the people, in case they need more reminders on BJP\u2019s visible interest in the state.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nAsked about the significance of the yatra, Annamalai told News18<\/em>: \u201cWe are also using this yatra to show how the DMK is alienated from the land of Tamils \u2013 family politics, corruption etc. Each day, there is some issue against some minister, absolute misgovernance and looting happening at the ground level. The yatra will focus on all these issues\u2026\u201d<\/p>\nHere is where the focus needs to shift in the DMK\u2019s response to the BJP-led central government\u2019s multipronged \u201cscare tactics\u201d: be it the \u2018DMK Files\u2019 or the ED raids, the party\u2019s trademark political maturity, derring-do attitude and people-centric approach are missing.<\/p>\n
Soon after the raids and the arrest of Senthil Balaji, Stalin put out a video, warning the Centre against leveraging agencies as a tool in its misadventures. Clearly, the Centre was not paying heed. This and several other instances of the DMK\u2019s less-than-usual aggression, may be seen by some quarters as softening up, which is quite out of character for the party.<\/p>\n
Annamalai\u2019s narrative follows the much-treaded path of the BJP\u2019s previous campaigns: identify the incumbent as incorrigibly corrupt, brazen, and wallowing in the hubris that dynasts are often prone to. \u201cRecently, too, when 22 women lost their husbands, the sole breadwinners of their families, to illicit liquor, it was the DMK\u2019s paapa<\/em> (sin),” Annamalai said.<\/p>\nThe response to the BJP\u2019s padyatra is likely to provide two insights from ground zero: the degree of unpopularity of the DMK government and whether people will hand Annamalai the sickle to harvest it.<\/p>\n
The AIADMK, which is the principal opposition party in the state, is making tactical noises that convey the right points but the fact remains that Edappadi Palaniswami\u2019s political absenteeism is missed by no one. Deliberate or not, him taking the backstage as though to let Annamalai project the main opposition voice may not bode well for the party\u2019s long-term prospects.<\/p>\n
The timing of Annamalai\u2019s yatra could not have been better. As we head into an election year in less than a quarter, and as opposition parties are gathering to project a united front to \u201csave India\u201d, we will find Annamalai steadily swimming against the tide.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Former IPS officer K Annamalai, who has been tasked with turning the Tamil Nadu BJP into a force to be reckoned with, has just started a \u2018padyatra\u2019 from Rameswaram. Union home minister Amit Shah, who flagged it off, sent a clarion call to the people of the state to vote out the \u201ccorrupt\u201d DMK government in the upcoming elections.<\/p>\n
Calling it \u2018En mann, en makkal\u2019 (My land, my people), the BJP has set off on a journey that aims at an indigenous-sounding political approach. For an electorate oozing a Dravidian rhetoric of \u2018State versus Centre\u2019, the BJP\u2019s approach could prove to be disarming.<\/p>\n
If one were to connect the dots ever since Annamalai took over as the state BJP chief, the party\u2019s strategy has been clear: speak the Dravidian political language but sting like the BJP. The \u2018DMK Files\u2019 campaign, trying to establish the MK Stalin-led party as corrupt; consecutive ED raids on the state\u2019s two powerful ministers, V Senthil Balaji and K Ponmudy, which clearly hints at more such events in future; and a padyatra to take the campaign to the people, in case they need more reminders on BJP\u2019s visible interest in the state.<\/p>\n
Asked about the significance of the yatra, Annamalai told News18<\/em>: \u201cWe are also using this yatra to show how the DMK is alienated from the land of Tamils \u2013 family politics, corruption etc. Each day, there is some issue against some minister, absolute misgovernance and looting happening at the ground level. The yatra will focus on all these issues\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Here is where the focus needs to shift in the DMK\u2019s response to the BJP-led central government\u2019s multipronged \u201cscare tactics\u201d: be it the \u2018DMK Files\u2019 or the ED raids, the party\u2019s trademark political maturity, derring-do attitude and people-centric approach are missing.<\/p>\n Soon after the raids and the arrest of Senthil Balaji, Stalin put out a video, warning the Centre against leveraging agencies as a tool in its misadventures. Clearly, the Centre was not paying heed. This and several other instances of the DMK\u2019s less-than-usual aggression, may be seen by some quarters as softening up, which is quite out of character for the party.<\/p>\n Annamalai\u2019s narrative follows the much-treaded path of the BJP\u2019s previous campaigns: identify the incumbent as incorrigibly corrupt, brazen, and wallowing in the hubris that dynasts are often prone to. \u201cRecently, too, when 22 women lost their husbands, the sole breadwinners of their families, to illicit liquor, it was the DMK\u2019s paapa<\/em> (sin),” Annamalai said.<\/p>\n The response to the BJP\u2019s padyatra is likely to provide two insights from ground zero: the degree of unpopularity of the DMK government and whether people will hand Annamalai the sickle to harvest it.<\/p>\n The AIADMK, which is the principal opposition party in the state, is making tactical noises that convey the right points but the fact remains that Edappadi Palaniswami\u2019s political absenteeism is missed by no one. Deliberate or not, him taking the backstage as though to let Annamalai project the main opposition voice may not bode well for the party\u2019s long-term prospects.<\/p>\n The timing of Annamalai\u2019s yatra could not have been better. As we head into an election year in less than a quarter, and as opposition parties are gathering to project a united front to \u201csave India\u201d, we will find Annamalai steadily swimming against the tide.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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