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Coimbatore South: Kamal Haasan could divide anti-incumbency votes, benefit BJP
The tripolar contest in Coimbatore South is as diverse as its constituency, which is also the smallest assembly seat in this district and has come under the spotlight with Haasan testing his electoral prowess from here
On March 19, while actor-politician Kamal Haasan was releasing his party’s maiden assembly manifesto from the Taj hotel in the south segment of Coimbatore, a meeting between minority leaders was being held barely 200 metres away on the premises of a church to discuss bringing together all religions ahead of the 2021 assembly elections.
The tripolar contest in Coimbatore South is as diverse as its constituency, which is also the smallest assembly seat in this district and has come under the spotlight with actor Haasan testing his electoral prowess from here. The three-year-old Makkal Needhi’s Maiam’s (MNM) chief ministerial candidate is up against old hands such as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s national president of Mahila Morcha Vanathi Srinivasan and Congress’ (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or DMK’s ally) Mayura Jayakumar—both the national party candidates have contested and lost from this seat previously. The BJP is the ally of ruling party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in Tamil Nadu polls.
“There is an apprehension that the BJP is causing communal disharmony,” said Charles Samraj, the outgoing secretary of Coimbatore CSC Churches diocese after the meeting. “If we can consolidate 100% minority votes, it will be a deciding factor in this election and pose a challenge for the BJP. But Kamal [Hasan]’s entry will end up helping the BJP as he will split the opposition (DMK-Congress coalition) votes.”
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The western region of Tamil Nadu, which includes the Coimbatore district , is a citadel of the ruling AIADMK. Here, industrialists and the community of Telugu-speaking Naidus and Gounders back the BJP. However, the labourers, traders and minorities, who are also traditional AIADMK voters, are moving from the party due to its alliance with the BJP and towards either the DMK or Haasan’s MNM.
Coimbatore South specifically is urban and a hub of commercial activity from where Haasan draws his support. It is the lifeline of the district with government offices, a city court, a railway station and large retail markets. There is a sizeable Muslim population in Ukkadam, Karumukadai, which saw intense anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in 2019 joined by Anglo-Indians and various Christian groups that support the DMK-Congress combine. Chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami had recently dropped charges against anti-CAA protestors and the AIADMK made a U-turn in its election manifesto that it will urge the Centre to repeal the legislation after voting for it in Parliament.
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Voter P Krishnamurthy, who runs a travel business near the BJP’s south office, is a traditional DMK voter but considered Haasan for 2021 and changed his mind again to BJP, confirming Samraj’s beliefs. “For the first time I decided not to vote for DMK because I feel they have not been able to provide anything and I wanted to vote for Haasan, but this morning I read about Income Tax raids at his party member’s house. They’re all corrupt so I feel Vanathi may be a better choice. We can give the BJP a chance and see how they function in the state,” said Krishnamurthy. On Thursday, I-T raided MNM party treasurer Chandrasekaran in Tirupur. Kamal responded that since MNM was fighting the election on the planks of honesty and anti-corruption, these raids were intimidatory tactics to defame them.
Kapilan Murugesh, a 24-year-old entrepreneur, whose family members are BJP supporters, are urging him to do the same but he has decided to back Haasan. “Youngsters hate the BJP for spreading hate. The older generation is falling for the BJP’s branding and propaganda,” said Murugesh, CEO, Blue, a company that does social media marketing for hoteliers. “I want to vote for a new person so my choice is Kamal [Haasan]. I hope he changes the system from the bipolar contest. The DMK and AIADMK politicians only want power; they aren’t passionate about change. Both haven’t been great even though they may be good in certain aspects. During the DMK regime we had frequent power cuts which the AIADMK fixed but they are poor in infrastructure and have allowed religious fundamentalism and I think it is pulling India backwards . And I believe Kamal [Haasan] will 100% not be corrupt.”
Haasan made a surprise move choosing Coimbatore South as his constituency; he was expected to contest from Chennai. MNM, floated in 2018 as an alternative to the Dravidian majors of DMK and AIADMK, debuted in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls registering a 3.7% vote share but didn’t win any seat. “Our best performance was in the Coimbatore South segment with 16%,” said Mahendran, who belongs to Coimbatore and will contest from the neighbouring assembly constituency of Singanallur. “We have a strong organisational base here so it would make a good place for him (Kamal). Coimbatore is known for its education, MSMEs, entrepreneurship and industries so people’s thinking is futuristic. Plus the DMK and AIADMK votes will come to us because the voters are fed up. It’s only a matter of our winning margin,” he said and responded that Haasan’s candidature wouldn’t help the BJP.
For the lower middle class, traders and labourers, the alternative is DMK over Haasan. “My vote is for Stalin,” said an auto driver M Khader, who until the previous assembly in 2016 was voting for the AIADMK as he was a supporter of late chief minister and AIADMK chief J Jayalalihaa. “After her death (in December 2016) I began voting for DMK. I don’t trust EPS (Palaniswami) since he is with BJP. The Congress candidate Jayakumar is a known face in this locality. Kamal hasn’t done anything for people so far.”
Another pair of Muslim sisters also said that they are switching over from AIADMK to DMK for the same reasons. “We felt protected under Amma but Modi just wants to chase us away,” said Nagur Amma who sells clothes for a living. The constituency also sees isolated support for smaller regional parties like Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam’s (DMDK) whose leader Vijayakanth has joined hands with VK Sasiakla’s nephew TTV Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam. “We are all living like brothers here but the BJP is trying to divide us,” said a small vendor J Babu.
There was widespread violence in Coimbatore when mosques and churches were pelted with stones following the murder of a Hindu Munnani spokesperson C Sasikumar in 2016. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) charge-sheeted members from the People Front of India (PFI), an extremist Islamic organisation. Beside this crime, in 1998, there were bomb blasts during BJP leader LK Advani’s visit to Coimbatore, after which local party veteran CP Radhakrishnan was elected twice as MP but he failed to retain the seat in the 2019 parliamentary elections.
BJP’s vote bank in the district believes only the party can ensure such crimes are not repeated. The upper middle class, administrative quarters and industrialists in this pocket also back the national party for their ease of business and development work. “Only after the BJP came to power, Coimbatore got the smart city tag, we have better infrastructure and now we are receiving a defence corridor,” said an industrialist who did not wish to be identified.
The BJP is confident that they have an edge as they are in alliance with the ruling AIADMK. Vanathi, 50, is a soft-spoken lawyer who switched to the party from her ABVP days and is not known for making any communal remarks. “She is accessible and liked by everyone. BJP has a quiet presence in Coimbatore with a lot of support from the fishermen community, the Arya-Vaishyas and cuts across portions of all castes.” When asked if Vanathi would have faced a tight race and if Haasan’s entry has forged her ahead, Radhakrishnan said that people would wait to see the veteran actor’s political position. “Kamal hasn’t said anything against Islamic terrorism in this constituency. He didn’t visit those affected by it. BJP is the only party opposing terrorism of all religions including that of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief V Prabhakar.”
Differing from that line of thought, the secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind’s Coimbatore chapter, Abdul Hakkim said that Coimbatore is a self-made city and neither the state nor the Centre has done enough to help its industries. “The CAA and NRC (National Register of Citizens) are treating us like secondary citizens in our country. The BJP is creating divisions so they can position themselves as protectors,” said Hakkim, who is also a peace activist. “All the work we had done towards religious harmony was unfortunately affected after the Sasikumar murder case.” Jamaat-e-Islami Hind along with the church and local Hindu leaders are planning a congregation ahead of the elections to ensure that there is 100% voting and espouse that they are united in religion.
