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Alliance with BJP may hit AIADMK’s minority support
Despite being allies, a section of senior leaders are strident critics of the BJP who they believe have alienated the vote bank of Christians and Muslims
Chennai:
Senior leaders of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK ) are of consensus that their alliance with the Bharatia Janata Party (BJP) may hinder chances of regaining their support among minorities, people aware of the matter said.
Recently the AIADMK reinducted their minority wing chief and former parliamentarian A Anwar Raajhaa, a year after he was removed for publicly decrying ally BJP for their loss in the 2021 assembly elections, signalling their effort to woo the Muslim community ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Back in 2021, Raajhaa also criticised the dual leadership and he was jointly expelled by Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) and O Panneerselvam (OPS). Party general secretary EPS welcomed Raajhaa to AIADMK in August this year.
“He (Raajhaa) wanted to return for a while. Elections are around the corner and we had to bring him back. But just because we have, the minorities aren’t going to come back to us,” a senior AIADMK leader said requesting anonymity. Raajhaa,who is from Ramanathapuram, had been the minority face of the party. He also had described the triple talaq legislation brought by the BJP-led Union government as ‘barbaric’.
Despite being allies, a section of senior leaders are strident critics of the BJP who they believe have alienated the vote bank of Christians and Muslims, people aware of the matter said. Party founder MG Ramachandran and his successor J Jayalalithaa had nurtured a strong support base among minorities in the state.
“As long as we are with the BJP, 100% votes of the minorities will not come to us,” said a second AIADMK leader also requesting anonymity. In addition, two Muslim-based parties the IUML (Indian Union Muslim League) and the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) are in the coalition with the ruling DMK.
There are 87,60,000 religious minorities in Tamil Nadu of which 44,00,000 are Christians and 42,00,000 are Muslims, according to the 2011 census. Analysis from the 2021 assembly elections have shown that the DMK had the backing of the religious minorities as well as Dalits. The DMK’s coalition had won 19 out of the 27 constituencies which had more than 20% minority votes.
The AIADMK has also reaffirmed its stance against the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
Late party supremo Jayalalithaa too had adopted a resolution to oppose the UCC. and party leaders say that ahead of the 2024 LS polls, there would be an outreach towards the minority communities with the promise that the AIADMK’s ideology of secularism is intact. “Like our leader (EPS) has often said electoral alliance is different from ideology,” the second leader quoted above said.
