BJP-AIADMK marriage falls apart after months of discord

Senior AIADMK leader D Jayakumar’s terse statement on Monday (September 18) to the media made it clear that no alliance exists between the BJP and AIADMK. However, he also added that any poll pact will be decided during the elections only.

The trigger point for the most-recent flare up between the two parties has been Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai’s remarks on the late Tamil Nadu chief minister C N Annadurai. According to Annamalai, Annadurai had in the 1950s made a critical remark against the Hindu faith at a programme in Madurai, which was staunchly opposed by freedom fighter Pasumpon Muthumarlinga Thevar and he had to later apologise to Thevar.

AIADMK leaders and cadre, which already view the BJP as a “baggage” they have to bear, saw red and attacked Annamalai.

AIADMK leader Sellur K Raju said, “There are people who are staunch followers of Anna who can cut the tongue of those who speak ill of the late Chief Minister." And he hit out at Annamalai for speaking ill of departed people, which was never part of Tamil culture.

Annamalai however refused to be cowed. Reacting to the criticism from the AIADMK leaders, Annamalai retorted that though he believed the alliance is important the AIADMK should not expect them to be "slaves".

A marriage of convenience

Political observers have long been predicting the end of this tenuous relationship. Only a few months ago, in March this year, tensions between the two parties had peaked when four BJP leaders defected to the AIADMK. At that time, EPS himself was leading the party’s bid to turn the heat on the BJP. Angry over its own ally poaching their office bearers, the saffron party workers burnt photos of AIADMK chief EPS and accused him of "violating coalition dharma".

At that time, AIADMK leaders had confessed to the media that most of their cadre dislike the alliance with the BJP and there is no coordination among the cadres of both parties at the grassroots level. And that EPS has been just extending his half-hearted support to the party.

Problems plaguing the partnership

One of the major problems in the alliance has been the BJP state president K Annamala, who took over in 2021. This former firebrand IPS officer, who has a reputation of speaking his mind, is constantly locking horns with AIADMK. He seems to instigate the AIADMK by openly making statements like, “As long as blood runs through my veins no one can see the BJP in TN as a junior partner in an alliance. “I am not after posts. I am here to make the BJP the ruling party of TN,” he once stated.

This aggressive politics by Annamalai has riled the AIADMK. They even accuse him of defaming its former leader Jayalalithaa by comparing himself with her. AIADMK hit out angrily saying he could be compared to a "branch anager of a corporate operating pan India". Political observers say that Annamalai's heart is really not in this relationship.

When BJP leaders defected to the AIADMK in March this year, Annamalai declared that he rather resign from the post than continue with the alliance.

Recently, he also agreed in an interview that the years 1991 to 1996 was among the “worst periods in terms of corruption” in Tamil Nadu. (Which was the time Jayalalitha was in power) His comment led to EPS giving his yatra in Tamil Nadu a miss.

AIADMK uncomfortable with BJP growth

The AIADMK is also increasingly uncomfortable with BJP's growth, which the Dravidian party knows will happen at its expense. In fact, the 2021 Assembly poll results showed that the alliance was not helpful for the AIADMK. On the contrary, it enabled the BJP to gain a foothold in the state.

Even in Puducherry, the BJP’s vote share in the Assembly polls shot up making it the senior partner.

BJP has also been accused of exerting “undue influence” over its senior ally for years, with the BJP high command calling the shots on and off.

Ideological differences

There are also clear ideological differences between the two parties. AIADMK is opposed to the NEP’s three language policey because it is being viewed as a way to impose Hindi, a controversial issue in Tamil Nadu.

The contentious Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 brought in by the BJP-led Union government is also a sensitive issue. TN is one of the states where people resisted the legislation and AIADMK faced a lot of flak for backing the bill in Parliament. 

Who stands to lose?

According to political observers, the BJP unit in TN is in a no-win situation. It will always be the junior partner in an alliance with the AIADMK and if it strikes out on its own, it will not get even one seat. The AIADMK had wanted the BJP central leadership to rein in Annamalai which has not happened. What with the growing demand from AIADMK cadres and sympathisers to break the alliance with BJP in which only they stand to gain, the AIADMK leadership seems to have thrown down the gauntlet.