Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his second trip in seven days to Tamil Nadu on Monday last, where he addressed a mammoth rally in Chennai and inaugurating projects across the State.

Back-of-the-envelope calculations show that projects worth more than ₹30,000 crore have been showered on Tamil Nadu so far.

The political imperatives of paying so much attention to Tamil Nadu by the BJP in an election year are not hard to fathom. That the Prime Minister has himself come down for launching these projects is hardly surprising. One, it gives Modi the opportunity to talk about the achievements of the NDA government over the last almost 10 years.

Two, the project inauguration meetings are also platforms for the Prime Minister to slam the DMK government and make a pitch for the BJP in Tamil Nadu. Modi in his speeches has repeatedly berated the DMK over its “misrule” in the last three years, its dynastic politics, its “anti-Hindu” leanings, etc.

Interestingly, while in Tamil Nadu the Prime Minister barely mentions the Ram Mandir, recently consecrated in Ayodhya. He perhaps shrewdly realises that this will not have much traction in the southern State unlike in the north.

While Modi has been slamming the DMK, he has been silent on AIADMK, BJP’s erstwhile ally. In a recent speech, he even heaped praises on former Chief Ministers MG Ramachandran (MGR) and J Jayalalithaa. At a barely concealed swipe at the DMK he even said that MGR was against corruption and family politics.

There could be two ways of looking at the PM’s remarks. One, he is still keeping the door open to the AIADMK for an alliance in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. This is something BJP Central Ministers have repeatedly said, though the AIADMK chief Edappadi Palaniswami has ruled out any such possibility.

The second way of reading this is that by praising MGR and Jayalalithaa and going soft on the AIADMK, the BJP is trying to cut into the AIADMK vote bank which should worry the Dravidian major.

It is also interesting to note that the last three BJP State Presidents have come from the Gounder (K Annamalai, the incumbent chief), Dalit (L Murugan) and Nadar (Tamizhisai Soundararajan) communities. This is a clear indication of how deftly the national party is playing its caste card in Tamil Nadu.

In one sense the BJP and DMK going hammer and tongs at each other is entirely logical as for the national ruling party, the DMK is the major political foe in a State where the saffron party has failed to make any significant in-roads so far.

For the BJP, the DMK’s “dynastic rule” and “anti-Hindu” leanings are handy weapons to attack the DMK. The DMK to counter the BJP’s attacks, talks up its “Dravidian model” (growth with social justice) and its “Periyarist” legacy of a casteless society founded on rationalism.

But as a disclaimer, it has to be said, in Tamil Nadu the gulf between ideology and practice has always been quite wide.

AIADMK’s dilemma

But for the AIADMK the BJP’s pitch in Tamil Nadu presents a dilemma. That the national party is eyeing its vote bank may be giving the AIADMK the jitters. But given its ideological dilution over the years, thanks to its personality-centric politics of the past, the AIADMK faces now a curious existential crisis.

The DMK and BJP being natural foes, has left the AIADMK in a tricky spot.

AIADMK for long a Thevar dominated party, is now dominated by the Gounder community, which is influential in the western belt of the State, a region where the ruling DMK has found it hard to make inroads.

The AIADMK has also been busy sewing up alliances and finalising seat adjustment talks with its allies — PMK, DMDK, Puthiya Tamizhagam and others.

The AIADMK also tried to rope in another Dalit party, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal (VCK), but its leader Thol Thirumavalan has chosen to remain with the DMK and the INDIA bloc.

AIADMK’s choice of allies is also a reflection of the party’s efforts to balance the intricate caste equations in the various regions of the State.

In a sense the upcoming Lok Sabha elections will be a litmus test for the AIADMK.

If its alliances with smaller Dravidian parties pay off and it puts up a decent show, the AIADMK will live to fight for another day, which is of course is the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

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