Chennai: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Tamil Nadu government, which is at loggerheads with its alliance partners over the crackdown on Samsung Electronics workers’ protest in Kancheepuram district’s Sriperumbudur, has received unexpected support from its ideological rival, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
While the alliance party leaders, including Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol. Thirumavalavan, CPI(M) state secretary K. Balakrishnan, CPI state secretary R. Mutharasan and Congress state president K. Selvaperunthagai, have condemned the arrest of protesting workers at Sriperumbudur, BJP functionaries in Tamil Nadu have extended their support to the state government over ending the strike backed by Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), which is affiliated to the CPI(M).
“The action taken by the Tamil Nadu government is correct and it should take more stringent action against the Left unions protesting against Samsung,” Professor Raama Sreenivasan, state general secretary, BJP Tamil Nadu, told ThePrint.
He added that the government cannot save the labourers unless it saves the companies employing the labourers.
Over the past two days, BJP functionaries and DMK sympathisers have been posting similar opinions on social media platforms, such as Facebook and X, sharing videos of Samsung employees not involved in the protests. In some instances, videos circulated by both sides were the same.
A BJP IT wing functionary told ThePrint that DMK did not share those videos with them, but they found them on social media platforms. “Since it was in line with our view on this protest, we used the videos to attack the Left union.”
Meanwhile, the DMK IT wing also took no accountability for the video.
“It was shot by some YouTube channel and we never officially used it. We cannot take responsibility if DMK supporters are using it,” a DMK IT wing functionary told ThePrint.
This is not the first time the BJP and DMK have found common ground. The first instance was during the coin commemoration event that was part of the Kalaignar centenary celebration in August this year, where BJP leaders, including Union Minister Rajnath Singh and Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai, rubbed shoulders with DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, along with other senior state ministers.
While the BJP and DMK are rival parties when it comes to ideologies, political commentators in the state have said that the parties have been covertly maintaining their friendship for at least the past two years.
“DMK wants to be in power in the state and the BJP wants to be the principal Opposition in the state. Both are feeding off of each other to serve their individual goals. Delhi BJP has been maintaining good friendship with DMK for at least two years, and only now has this started coming to the notice of the public,” political commentator Sumanth Raman told ThePrint.
He also said that the pressure exerted by the alliance partners on DMK is just to negotiate for a better share in the 2026 Tamil Nadu assembly elections.
VCK leader Thirumavalavan Wednesday condemned police action against the protesting workers and appealed to Stalin to intervene and register the union.
“As comradeship parties, we would meet the chief minister in this regard in a couple of days to seek an amicable solution,” Thirumavalavan told media persons after meeting detained protesting workers. He added that the case pending before the Madras High Court is not an excuse for the state government to not register the union in accordance with the law.
CITU general secretary A. Soundararajan also warned the state government that it is not appropriate to arrest peacefully protesting workers.
It was seen as an apparent rift within the DMK alliance because the partners have come out to openly show support to the protesting workers. Meanwhile, the DMK led-government had said that it had already resolved the Samsung workers’ issues.
Asked if the unusual support of the BJP and the DMK alliance parties turning hostile to the government were causing any discomfort in the DMK alliance, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee general secretary Lakshmi Ramachandran told ThePrint that it was a stand alone issue and it had nothing to do with the alliance.
“Whatever is being spoken by the DMK sympathisers on social media is not the official stand of the DMK. The BJP has always been anti-workers and anti-farmers, so it is not surprising that they are against the protesting workers. The Congress supports the cause of the protesting workers, and at the same time, we want an amicable solution sooner than later to protect the interests of both the company and the employees,” Ramachandran said.
DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan denied any covert relationship with the BJP. “At any cost, we would never have any relationship with the BJP. Regarding the labourers’ issue, we assure that the government would not take any adverse action against the labourers since DMK always stands by the working class,” Elangovan told ThePrint.
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‘Govt should have take action sooner’
The recent support from the BJP came after the CITU accused DMK ministers of misleading the public by engaging with a faction of workers not involved in the protest demanding union recognition.
Over 1,000 workers of the Samsung Electronics plant at Sriperumbudur have been protesting since 9 September, demanding recognition and registration of the union affiliated to the CITU.
Stalin has ordered DMK ministers Thangam Thennarasu, T.R.B. Rajaa and C.V. Ganesan to hold talks and solve the matter amicably.
The ministers held a marathon meeting Monday with two sets of employees—protesting and non-protesting workers. The company declared that it has accepted all demands of the workers but recognition of the union.
After the cabinet meeting, Rajaa, Tamil Nadu’s minister for Industries, Investment Promotions and Commerce, told the media Tuesday that the matter of the recognition of the union is sub judice since a case is pending before the Madras High Court in this regard.
The real support from BJP to DMK came after DMK allies VCK, CPI, CPM and Congress decided to meet the protesting workers to extend their support.
The government tried hard to deter protesting workers from gathering at the protest site in Sriperumbudur. Workers who defied police restrictions were arrested and detained in marriage halls.
When the forceful detention of protesting workers caught the attention of people in the state, DMK sympathisers circulated on social media the testimonies of Samsung workers not involved in the protest to discourage support for the protesting employees as the alliance party leaders were about to meet.
However, leaders of Opposition parties still managed to meet the protesters in the halls where they were detained.
Speaking to ThePrint, BJP’s Sreenivasan alleged that the Samsung workers’ protests were instigated by DMK allies VCK and CPM.
“If a Left party enters a place, it will never flourish. This was the case in West Bengal and Kerala. The Tamil Nadu state government has made the right decision by curtailing the Left, and they should take more stringent action against them (protesters) to demonstrate that the state is a business-friendly state to global industrialists,” Sreenivasan said.
However, a section of BJP leaders also see foul play in the protests and the subsequent action taken against them. BJP state vice president Narayanan Thirupathy told ThePrint that the state government should have taken action long ago since the protests have been happening for at least a month now.
“This raises suspicion on DMK’s stand and the action being taken against the Left union. Though I do not welcome DMK’s action, I feel what DMK has done in this regard is correct. But they should try to solve the issue amicably since there is a lot of competition between states to attract investment,” Thirupathy said.
While political commentator Raman confirmed that the BJP and DMK are finding common ground in their criticism against the Left union in the digital space, he said that they would never join hands electorally. “The core supporters of both the parties will not like it. DMK members themselves will not vote for DMK and so, they will not resort to such actions. But they will keep the competition between themselves, keeping the AIADMK at bay.”
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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