Right wing trend surfaces in TN local body polls

The recently concluded urban body election in Tamil Nadu has been significant for more than one reason. It was not just because it was independently conducted for the first time or for the DMK managing to effectively breach the traditional AIADMK strongholds.

It was also due to the fact that in an election where local issues should have dominated,  national issues like NEET, state autonomy etc., figured prominently during the campaigning.

Also, critically, a BJP candidate Uma Anandan, who emerged victorious in Chennai Corporation’s Ward 134 from West Mambalam, ruffled feathers by proclaiming that she was proud of Nathuram Godse,  Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin.

Anandan walked away with 5,539 votes and defeated the Congress candidate Suseela Gopalakrishan by a margin of 2,036 votes. The AIADMK was pushed to the third place.

In another instance on voting day on February 19,  AIADMK leader D Jayakumar assaulted a DMK cadre at Washermanpet ward alleging that he had tried to cast fake votes. The man was also ruthlessly paraded half-naked on the streets. Strangely, nobody protested against his behaviour. On the same day, a BJP booth agent in Madurai created a stir by demanding that hijab wearing Muslim women should not be allowed to vote.

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‘BJP always enjoyed Brahmin support’

Ramu Manivannan, professor and head, department of politics and public administration, University of Madras disagrees that this is a sign of the rise in right wing culture in Tamil Nadu.

It is a one-off incident, he said. “We should not now infer that people support the view of the BJP candidate who won an election by standing by Godse,” he added.

“Instead, what Uma Anandan’s victory reflects is that a sizable section of the Brahmin community supports the BJP,” said Manivannan, pointing out that West Mambalam is an area that has a large number of Brahmin votes.

“The candidate has clearly won because of the Brahmin votes. Just like candidates from southern Tamil Nadu emerge victorious with the support of their communities, she won with the support of her own community,” he reiterated.

Further, he said that TN has backed the RSS and BJP in a big way in the past and has had leaders like Subramaniam Swamy. “The movement and right-wing icons like Godse and Savarkar have always enjoyed the sympathy of the people here,” he added.

‘A new spin on Godse narrative, similar to Vanchinathan’

The narrative that is being built around Godse and Savarkar are gaining ground because they are similar to those around R Vanchinathan (1886-1911), a freedom fighter from Tirunelveli. A Brahmin, Vanchinathan assassinated Robert Ashe, a British tax collector of Tirunelveli because the latter had tried to curb the Swadeshi movement in the area.

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However, in recent years, another contentious narrative is being built around Ashe’s assassination. It is claimed that Vanchinathan killed Ashe as he was sympathetic to Dalit causes. In one instance, he reportedly transported a pregnant Dalit woman to the hospital through a road meant for Brahmins.

Though a large section of the educated Brahmin community does not subscribe to this view, some continue to fuel this theory.

“It is not necessary that the voters who voted in support of the BJP candidate accept the party’s ideology. They have just voted for her because of her Brahmin identity and by doing so, they were expressing their solidarity with the community,” said A Sivasubramanian, noted historian, who has documented the assassination of Vanchinathan.

“When Vanchinathan was alive, the Brahmins themselves did not consider him as a Brahmin. Likewise, it is doubtful how many Brahmins will accept Godse as their leader,” he added. Sivasubramanian felt that Brahmins were trying to reclaim their lost pride and icons. “But in the process, they are selecting wrong candidates,” he said.

‘Weak opposition candidate’

“The BJP candidate Uma Anandan has won from the ward because the Opposition candidate belonged to the Congress. If the candidate had been from the DMK, then the result would have been different. Moreover, she did not speak about Godse in her ward (She made the statement on the YouTube channel, a part of which went viral on social media). So, one should not jump to the conclusion that the urban elite has fallen prey to BJP’s claims,” said political commentator Aiyyanathan.

It is not the first time, a Brahmin candidate has won in a Brahmin ward. Earlier, S Ve Shekher was elected to the Assembly from Mylapore, he pointed out.

“In 1984, the actress-turned-politician Vyjayanthimala Bali, who was then with the Congress, won from South Chennai constituency defeating a great Parliamentarian like Era Chezian of the Janata Party. Again in 1989, she defeated Aladi Aruna of the DMK, because of the Brahmin votes. So, it is not surprising they voted in favour of their community member, ” added Aiyyanathan.