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The Congress is needling the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) by sidling towards former Tamil matinee idol Vijay, whose new kid on the block, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), is more of a bargaining chip. The DMK has been condescending, if not contemptuous, of the Congress, as indicated by the steady decrease of seats allocated to it for contesting, from 63 in the 2011 Assembly elections to 41 in the 2016 elections, and then to 25 in the 2021 elections, out of which it made a rich harvest of 18 seats. This is in sharp contrast to its poor showing and strike rate in the 2020 Bihar elections — out of the 70 assembly seats allotted to it by its dominant alliance partner RJD, the Congress could win only 19 seats, giving credence to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Tejashwi Yadav’s lament that had he not been so generous, he could have romped home victorious in the hustings. That it is much stronger in Tamil Nadu than what the DMK believes has emboldened it to cozy up to the Johnny-come-lately Vijay and ask for as many as 125 seats to contest from in the upcoming 2026 Assembly elections. Of course, one cannot expect the DMK to capitulate completely, as it has, as always, pitched a large tent and cannot antagonise other parties in its alliance. Then BJP Tamil Nadu President Annamalai was chafing at having to play second fiddle to the dominant (domineering) partner AIADMK, which condescended to allot it only 20 seats, of which it won just 4, polling 2.36% of the vote in the 2021 Assembly elections. What followed was a disaster — Annamalai prevailed on the national leadership to go it alone in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, drawing a blank. Now the central leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in a quandary — to ally or not to ally. That the stormy petrel Annamalai, who often got under the skin of the AIADMK, was eased out with a seemingly pliable Nagendran replacing him, has given grist to the gossip mill that the AIADMK will at best throw crumbs to the BJP. Annamalai is one of the sizeable BJP ideologues who believe it has to go it alone and not play second fiddle to the domineering AIADMK. There is a view expressed in undertones that it should woo back the superstar Rajinikanth, if only to take on another matinee idol, Vijay. They wonder how come Rajinikanth, who quit politics at the height of COVID even before entering it, citing health grounds, has the energy and verve to work in films. In a state held in thrall by movie stars, the return of Rajini could at least set the cat among the pigeons. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Stalin has alleged that the BJP is helping its arch-rival AIADMK win by conducting a Special Intensive Review (SIR) of the voter list with the principal aim of disfranchising the minorities traditionally opposed to the BJP’s Hindutva politics. The truth is the BJP hasn’t been able to make much headway in a state where forward castes, its traditional vote bank apart, the OBCs account for just 3% of the population. It has always wanted to ride piggyback on AIADMK, which enjoys tremendous support from believers among the Dravidians, with non-believers staying steadfast with the DMK. The central leader could perhaps use the joker in the pack — trifurcation of the state. “Our Thamizhagam (Tamil Nadu) should be split into three. The southern district should be made into a state and Kongu region should be made another state,” said Arjun Sampath of the Hindu Makkal Katchi in 2023. Well, it could give a new spin to the divide and rule strategy. Levity apart, there have been instances of division of large states into two or three for better governance, given the fact that smaller states lend themselves to better administration. If trifurcation indeed happens, there could be heightened hostilities boiling over the SIR. That said, the BJP is indeed at its wit’s end as to how to get a shot at governance in the most elusive state. That it has had to play second fiddle in Bihar also is another story. The writer is a senior columnist. He tweets @smurlidharan. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
