BJP prefers to infiltrate regional parties and dilute their vote bank: VCK leader

The BJP has been using this strategy to replace the regional parties and place itself in the second position. I have been pointing out to the AIADMK...that if it travels with the BJP in the long term, its vote base will be diluted: Thirumavalavan

VCK president Thol. Thirumavalavan on Friday alleged that the BJP’s brand of politics was to slowly infiltrate regional parties by aligning with them and dilute their vote bank to become a stronger contender. In a freewheeling interaction with journalists at The Hindu office in Chennai, he expressed his views on various issues, including the position that Dalits across India cannot be consolidated based on their caste, as they want to annihilate their caste identity. Excerpts:

What are the prospects of the Opposition INDIA bloc in the coming Lok Sabha election, both in Tamil Nadu and at the national level?

At the national level, the 2024 election is not just a normal election. All the Opposition leaders across India have taken it seriously and come together, setting aside their differences. The INDIA bloc was not formed under the leadership of one national party. Even though the Congress and the Left parties are part of it, the regional parties played a crucial role in its formation. The objective of this bloc is to unseat the BJP. The parties constituting the alliance have a common understanding that there will be no prime ministerial face ahead of the results and there is no necessity for it. The regional parties will ensure the defeat of the BJP in their States and decide on the PM candidate after the election.

But the BJP has set a target of 400 seats and many opinion polls also favour it. With the consecration of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, it seems Hindu revivalism has come in northern States and the BJP is trying to utilise it. What is your opinion?

The BJP has been using such slogans for many years. But the BJP leaders never spoke about what they achieved from them. I feel the Hindus have understood the BJP’s and the RSS’s political game of using the religious sentiments. The awareness has increased among the Hindus to such an extent that they can distinguish between the politics of the BJP and the religion. Their agenda will not work in south India. The Ram Mandir consecration may have an impact in four or five northern States.

You have been talking about an ideological alignment that is essential in coalition politics. But beyond electoral politics, what is your relationship with the DMK?

We are neither defending the DMK nor playing the role of an Opposition party. Our relationship with the DMK is issuebased. In the last three years, the VCK has organised more than 10 protests in many parts of the State, despite police crackdown, condemning castebased violence and honour killing. Even on the Vengaivayal issue (over human refuse found in an overhead water tank in a Dalit hamlet), we organised a protest within three days. We stood by the people and protested against the government on several issues. Being a member of the vigilance panel, I have pointed to many atrocities committed on Dalits and women, and honour killings. The VCK has never thought that our genuine disagreement on some issues would bring a rift in the alliance. We are addressing the issues faced by the people.

You said the AIADMK is left isolated. Can it be inferred that the BJP is growing in the State?

It is one of the plans of the BJP. It enters a State by aligning with one of the major regional parties and slowly infiltrates that party and dilutes its vote base. The BJP has been using this strategy to replace the regional parties and place itself in the second position. I have been pointing out to the AIADMK, in a friendly manner, that if it travels along with the BJP in the long term, its vote base will be diluted.

I welcomed the decision of the AIADMK to snap ties with the BJP when BJP State president Annamalai passed some critical remarks about [former Chief Ministers] C.N. Annadurai and Jayalalithaa. However, it is not a vital reason for the AIADMK to come out of the alliance. We don’t know whether the AIADMK came out of the alliance or the BJP created a situation for it to pull out. I feel that it is the strategy of the BJP to isolate the AIADMK and replace it in the second position in the next election.

Do you think that the BJP will come in second in 2026?

The BJP aims to do so but the AIADMK’s vote bank remains strong. Though [AIADMK general secretary] Edappadi K. Palaniswami is not a charismatic leader like MGR and Jayalalithaa, the party managed to win more than 60 Assembly seats. Some leaders may have left the party, but the party’s vote bank remains intact. We have to see in this election whether or not the AIADMK retains its vote bank.

The level of Dalit unity envisaged by B.R. Ambedkar has not happened yet. What can be done to unite Dalits? Has Dalit consolidation happened in the State?

Throughout India, the caste Hindus are polarised and consolidated based on their caste, whether it is OBC or the forward community. Casteism is being taught to them in their daytoday life. Dalits are those who want to renounce their caste identity. Only the Dalits and the followers of Ambedkar in India have been advocating for the annihilation of caste. The other sections of society have no agenda to eradicate caste. Dalits will never consolidate based on caste, because they want to annihilate the caste identity. Dalits have accepted leaders such as Gandhi, Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Jagjivan Ram without seeing their castes. It was only Kanshi Ram in Uttar Pradesh who consolidated, not based on the Dalit identity, all the Bahujans such as the OBCs, the SCs, the STs and the minorities. There is nothing such as Dalit unity. What is required is a politicised rise for Dalits. There is nothing called castebased unity, it is just ideologybased unity. Dalit unity is not about the VCK joining hands with the Puthiya Thamizhagam or Devendra Kula Vellalars, Adi Dravidars and Arunthathiyars coming together. Dalits should have more awareness of power.

(For the full interview, visit https://thlink.in/Thiruma)