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BJP in review mode after Tamil Nadu loss
The BJP's poor performance in Tamil Nadu is attributed to a lack of leadership, failed alliances, and weak party unity, prompting a review and potential overhaul.
NEW DELHI: The lack of a popular face, failure to negotiate a pre-poll alliance with actor and now chief minister Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and the cadre’s inability to put up a collective fight against the opposition have been identified as the key reasons for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s dismal performance in Tamil Nadu, said people aware of the details.
These details have been shared with the party’s top brass, which is set to chair a meeting to review the party’s performance, followed by a rejig in the state’s organisational setup, people aware of the details said. They added that a section of leaders in the party feels the leadership failed to recognise Vijay’s popularity and consequently did not pursue the alliance seriously.
Although Vijay attacked both the BJP and its ally the AIADMK in his election rallies, there had been talk of forming a larger front against the ruling DMK. “There were some meetings between a TVK general secretary and senior BJP leaders in Delhi regarding the possibility of an alliance, but it did not fructify and the AIADMK, too, was not entirely on board. The other mistake was that the NDA alliance felt Vijay’s popularity, as evident from the rallies etc., would not translate into votes,” said one BJP leader. The idea was to include parties such as the TVK, PMK, AMMK (Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam), and expelled AIADMK leaders VK Sasikala, O Paneersalvam and others to form a grand alliance.
The leader said the BJP did not anticipate the support TVK had among the youth—the 18-30 age group—that propelled Vijay to victory .
“There was a general perception that the TVK, which lacked a strong cadre like the DMK and AIADMK, would end up eating into the DMK’s vote share but would not win enough seats to be in the race for forming government,” said a second BJP party leader.
While the TVK walked away with 108 seats and 34.92% of the votes, the BJP won a single seat (down from the previous four) with a vote share of 2.97% (marginally up from the previous 2.67%) and the AIADMK won 47 seats with a vote share of 21.21%.
The BJP, which contested the assembly elections as a junior partner of the AIADMK, fielded contestants on 33 of the 234 seats.
Two other party functionaries said the party’s cadre being “weak and disunited” contributed to the loss and the reliance on the AIADMK also did not bode well for the party. “The AIADMK itself was facing challenges after the death of J Jayalalithaa; it broke into factions and E Palaniswami is not a face that Tamil Nadu voters recognise,” said one of them.
A fifth BJP leader concurred that voters in the state prefer leaders with a “cult-like” following.
“This is the state where (former CMs) MG Ramachandran, Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha were larger than life. Personality dominates politics on the ground and a leader who has a linguistic, cultural and emotional connection with the masses has a better chance. There have been exceptions too, like Kamal Haasan…so, the BJP will need to focus on finding and promoting a face that resonates with the masses.”
Haasan who is now a Rajya Sabha MP floated the MNM, which failed to win a single seat in the 2021 Lok Sabha and assembly polls, and he himself lost to BJP’s Vanathi Srinivasan.
The differences between the state unit leaders and the disagreement between the former state president K Annamali and the AIADMK which led to the two allies falling apart briefly in 2023 have also been flagged.
The BJP changed the state president in an effort to mollify Palaniswami , but cadres of both parties were circumspect about the longevity of the alliance even after the two sides reunited ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“Factionalism proved costly for the BJP. Instead of collectively fighting, our cadre seemed to have given up. There is a need for an overhaul of the party unit and we are hopeful that the central leadership will take stock of the situation and draft a new plan for the Southern states, particularly Tamil Nadu,” said the fifth leader.
