Chennai: The absence of Brahmin candidates from the BJP and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) lists in Tamil Nadu has left the community in a state of dilemma. Many anticipate a potential split in the anti-Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) votes as a result.
“We are a little upset and unhappy,” Pammal S. Ramakrishnan, state coordinator for the Thamizhnadu Brahmin Association (Tambras), told ThePrint. “Over the past 30 years, we have been hardcore supporters of the AIADMK and BJP. They were in an alliance, and both parties are friendly with us.”
The Brahmin community, he said, had hopes that the BJP would accommodate candidates from the community as there were talks of fielding H. Raja from Chennai South and Karthikeyan from Mayiladuthurai. “But after some alliance talks and confusion, suddenly the Hyderabad governor came and she was very keen on South Chennai. She should have gone to her community belt in Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, or Thoothukudi,” Ramakrishnan said, adding that Mayiladuthurai was given to BJP’s ally Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK).
As per the BJP candidates list, former Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan is the party’s candidate from Chennai South constituency. She will run against DMK’s sitting MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian and AIADMK’s ex-MP J. Jayavardhan. The BJP, which is contesting from 20 seats, has allocated its biggest ally in the state, the PMK, 10 seats in Tamil Nadu.
“In this situation in Tamil Nadu. DMK is our main enemy because of their attitude,” Ramakrishnan said.
He added that many local cadres of the DMK are supportive of the community but the state leadership makes unwanted comments, including remarks against Sanatana Dharma. “The are unnecessarily talking ill of Hinduism and the Brahmin community. It’s quite unwarranted,” he added.
“At one point in time, there was a perception that the BJP was a Brahmin party. But the BJP, of late, or at least for the past 10 years, has been trying to dispel that image. Because that will not fetch them votes,” said Maalan Narayanan, a political analyst based in Chennai, to ThePrint.
Talking about their close relationship with the AIADMK, Ramakrishnan said the community was given representation by the party during the tenure of J. Jayalalithaa, the late Brahmin leader.
He added that the community hoped till the last minute that the AIADMK-BJP alliance might continue as the BJP high command was very keen on having an alliance with the Dravidian party.
Now, said Ramakrishnan, even though his association has announced its support to the BJP, the Brahmin community is in a dilemma since both AIADMK and BJP are friendly towards the community. He added that AIADMK has better candidates in many places. However, in constituencies such as Chennai South, and Kancheepuram, where there are many Brahmin voters, both AIADMK and BJP candidates might lose. He said the Association is planning to come up with ideas for consolidating the anti-DMK votes.
However, Narayan Thirupathy, the BJP spokesperson in Tamil Nadu, told ThePrint that the party “doesn’t see caste while choosing candidates”.
“BJP never fields a candidate seeing their caste identity. There is no doubt that Brahmins were supporting the party. They will be supporting us, and there is no doubt about that. We had Brahmin candidates in other elections. But in this election, it so happens that there are no Brahmin candidates. And it doesn’t mean that we have neglected them. BJP never believes in caste politics,” Thirupathy said.
AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan, too, said the party didn’t consider caste while selecting candidates and added that there are no constituencies dominated by Brahmins in Tamil Nadu.
In assembly elections, there are constituencies such as Mylapore and Kumbakonam that are dominated by Brahmins. But it’s not the case in Parliamentary polls, Sathyan said.
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‘Brahmin voters are also admirers of Modi’
Maalan noted that the BJP, which previously had Brahmin leaders heading the state, has exclusively appointed non-Brahmin leaders to key positions in the state leadership over the last decade.
While BJP’s state president Annamalai hails from the Gounder community, an OBC caste, the former state chief Tamilisai Soundararajan hails from the Nadaar community and state minister L. Murugan belongs to the SC community.
“The only hope that the BJP has is that most of the Brahmin voters are also admirers of Modi. They can hope that the Modi factor is going to help them,” he said.
According to Maalan, the Brahmin support for the AIADMK was down mostly due to the anti-DMK sentiment in the state and the lack of a third option.
“AIADMK doesn’t have Brahmin leaders. After Jayalalithaa’s death, many of them are dormant,” he said.
He added that almost all of AIADMK’s candidates are OBC candidates due to the anti-Brahmin sentiment prevalent in the state.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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