Chennai: Amid the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s censure of Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin over his Sanatana Dharma remarks, leaders from the opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) have internally raised concerns over how such action has only fuelled his growth in the state, ThePrint has learnt.
AIADMK leaders have also raised objections over BJP Tamil Nadu chief Annamalai’s latest remarks against DMK founder C.N. Annadurai, saying that they were not ideal for the party.
At an event on 11 September, Annamalai narrated an incident when a Tamil conclave was held in the Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple, where “Anna got an opportunity to speak and he said the girl (there) sang very well, if it were fools, they would say the girl sang well because she drank the milk of wisdom (that she was blessed by the Goddess)”.
We will not remain a mute spectator to DMK’s disparaging comments on Sanatana Dharma.
Brief extract of my speech during our protest yesterday against the corrupt DMK government and its HR&CE Minister. pic.twitter.com/DYwwdYoPue
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) September 12, 2023
He added that when Muthuramalinga Thevar (a politician and patriarch of Thevar leader reverred by all Tamil parties) got on the stage, he asked who had disparaged his Goddess earlier. “He warned that there would be abhishek with blood of those who disparage the Goddess,” said Annamalai.
A former AIADMK minister told ThePrint that even AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran had said that the party’s ideology was based on Annadurai’s teachings. While the alliance has to work towards a common goal — the Lok Sabha polls — such potshots at allies will not be taken lightly by the party cadre, he said.
He added that the continuous discourse on Sanatana Dharma has given a national platform to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) scion Udhayanidhi Stalin, which is not good for the alliance. He added that with the Lok Sabha elections due, the focus should be on confronting the DMK over governance and corruption.
While some AIADMK leaders dismissed Annamalai’s remarks, a few other leaders pointed out that the party flag also bore Anna’s face and such remarks would hurt the sentiments of the cadre.
However, AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan told ThePrint: “Annamalai is not taken seriously. He is only taken seriously in the media circles. He has a long way to go in political arena. Whenever his action breaches alliance dharma, a call has to be taken by the BJP high command in Delhi. AIADMK heads the alliance in Tamil Nadu, and if BJP needs to reap results, it has to fall in line with the AIADMK.”
It is against this backdrop that AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS), along with former Lok Sabha deputy speaker M. Thambidurai, is to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J.P. Nadda Thursday in Delhi.
Sanatana Dharma controversy
On 2 September, Udhayanidhi Stalin stirred up the controversy with his remark on Sanatana Dharma during an event organised by Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association of CPI(M) on ‘Annihilation of Santana’. In his 19-minute speech, Udhayanidhi purportedly said, “Like mosquitoes, dengue, Covid-19 and malaria require eradication, not mere opposition, so does Sanatana.”
The BJP lashed out at the minister to the extent of interpreting Udhayanidhi’s remark as a call for “genocide” of Hindus. The national BJP’s X account likened Udhayanidhi to Hitler and his Sanatana remark to Holocaust remark.
While the issue brewed in the national circles, with PM Modi instructing his ministers to respond to such attacks ‘with facts’, it didn’t gain much momentum in Tamil Nadu. Rather, it helped the DMK scion go beyond the ‘dynast’ criticism that rivals often hurled at him. It has helped Udhayanidhi brand himself, in his own words, as “the heir of C.N. Annadurai”.
Annadurai & DMK
Annadurai founded the DMK in 1949 after splitting from the parent party of Dravida Kazhagam (DK) to contest elections. The DMK was the first regional party in Tamil Nadu to form a government in 1967, defeating the Congress party in the state.
When M.G. Ramachandran split from the DMK to form the AIADMK in 1972, he had called his party Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and said that the party will follow Anna’s teaching.
Unlike Dravida Kazhagam, Anna had a more tolerant approach and had established that he was not against any religion. In 1953, when Periyar called for protests to break the idols of Vinayagar (Ganesha), Anna had famously said: “I would neither break the Ganesha idol nor the coconut (meaning he won’t make a religious offering).” Later, he also coined the DMK’s stand on God: “Ondre Kulam Oruvane Deivam (there is one race and one God).”
EPS’s Delhi visit
The meeting, set to take place days before the special Parliament session, is significant as the AIADMK has already voiced its support for the ‘One Nation One Election’ that the Centre is trying to pitch, say party workers. With the lone NDA MP from Tamil Nadu, P. Ravindranath, expelled from the party, EPS’s visit to Delhi is also to assure the NDA of the AIADMK’s support during the special session, said party sources.
The party had attended the 18 July meeting of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners in Delhi and promised its support for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
A former MP said the opposition INDIA bloc was holding multiple meetings on strategies for 2024, and the NDA too would have similar brainstorming sessions, and this visit of the AIADMK to Delhi would see many action plans for the state being discussed.
EPS is also likely to discuss with Amit Shah the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu. On 6 September, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested the leader of Thrissur-based module of terrorist organisation ISIS, Siyed Nabeel Ahammed.
He is also likely to raise the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) raids being carried out against former AIADMK leaders, said sources. “There will be strategies planned to mount more pressure on the DMK ahead of the 2024 polls,” said a senior party leader.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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