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HomePoliticsGovernorships to NCW, Modi govt's giving Tamil Nadu BJP leaders key posts....

Governorships to NCW, Modi govt’s giving Tamil Nadu BJP leaders key posts. What it signals

Recent appointments include actress-turned-politician Khushbu Sundar being made National Commission for Women member & ex state chief C.P. Radhakrishnan becoming Jharkhand Governor.

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Chennai: In the past two weeks, the Modi government has appointed at least three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders from Tamil Nadu to key positions across the country, with the latest being the appointment of actress-turned-politician Khushbu Sundar as a member of the National Commission for Women (NCW).

Previously, on 18 February, the BJP government at the Centre had appointed C.P. Radhakrishnan, former BJP state president, as Governor of Jharkhand. It has also extended the tenure of M. Venkatesan, leader of the party’s state SC wing, as chairman of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (sanitation workers), a posting equivalent in rank to that of a minister of state (MoS).

Political observers see the appointments as a significant move by the BJP in its attempt to expand its base in Tamil Nadu — a stronghold of Dravidian politics, where no national party has been able to break in since 1967.

Such appointments are not only simple rewards to state BJP leaders, but also the party’s way of ensuring Tamil representation at the national level and appeasing the state’s population, according to the observers. It is also the party’s way of staying in news in the state and giving a “false impression” of presence here.

Talking to ThePrint Nilakantan R.S., author and political analyst, said the BJP’s election strategy in Tamil Nadu has changed and so has its persona in the state. The ruling BJP at the Centre “has the ability to dole out these positions. These leaders have come up in the party through their contributions and it is their turn to get key positions.”

Party leaders, however, insist it is about the party choosing those who can “do justice” to the role.

BJP state vice president Narayanan Thirupathy, speaking to ThePrint, said “It is very encouraging for the cadres across the country, and it shows that they too will get due recognition for their work.”


Also Read: Why Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai traded in the quiet life he dreamt of for ‘toxic’ politics


A motivation to cadres 

According to Thirupathy, both Radhakrishnan and Khushbu have been recognised for their hard work over the years.

“Radhakrishnan was a former MP and the party’s former state president and has been in administrative roles. Similarly, Khushbu has been vocal about women’s rights for a long time. They deserve the position given to them,” he added.

Reacting to her appointment as NCW member, Khushbu, who has been with the BJP since October 2020, told ThePrint that the post “feels like being at home”. She added that it comes with “a huge responsibility” and she would “strive to do justice to it”.

“It is not about being from the BJP, the Centre has recognised people who have been doing service towards the nation. Out of so many appointments, just Radhakrishnan sir and I are from the party,” she said when asked if only leaders from the BJP are being put in positions of power.

She further added “A number of people out of the party have been given prime positions because they (the Centre) feel these leaders will be able to do justice to the position given to them. They have seen over a period of time how I have been working, it is just that they see how you are working and where your heart belongs and give you that position.”

TN BJP leaders in position of power

The number of Tamil Nadu state leaders being elevated to plum positions have increased since 2019, say political observers.

Former president of the BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit, Tamilisai Soundarajan, was made the Governor of Telangana in September 2019 and given additional charge as Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry in February 2021. A few months later, in August 2021, La. Ganesan, a former Rajya Sabha MP, was made the Governor of Manipur and given additional charge as Governor of West Bengal in July 2022. Currently, Ganesan, who had also earlier served as party state president and BJP national vice president, is the Governor of Nagaland.

Another former state BJP president, Dr. L. Murugan, is now Union minister of state for fisheries, animal husbandry, dairying and information and broadcasting. BJP’s current state president K. Annamalai, a former IPS officer who joined the party in 2020, has been made co-in-charge for the party in poll-bound Karnataka.

Talking to ThePrint, senior political analyst G. Gubendran said, “The BJP government might have made the move thinking that if it gives some position of power to whoever is eligible, the party can gain popularity in Tamil Nadu.”

“BJP creating a perception of expansion in TN”

The BJP, which has been trying to make in-roads into Tamil Nadu has been involved in creating “a perception of expansion” in the state, say critics.

“There is a projection, made via social media, that the BJP has a presence in the state, it is just optics,” said Gubendran. The growth of BJP in the state at present is “a false projection and only when an election is conducted will we know the actual penetration of the party”, he added.

Saying that the BJP government has been good at “managing headlines”, author and fellow at Roja Muthiah Research Library A. S. Panneerselvan said, “The BJP, a politically irrelevant party in the state, but with enormous clout and power to hog the headlines, has been trying to be relevant. These (appointments of state leaders) are headline management techniques.”

As far as electoral politics is concerned the BJP has been on a backfoot.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP — which contested from five seats in alliance with All India Anna Dravidian Progressive Federation (AIADMK) — saw the party losing from all five, not even able to retain the one seat, Kanyakumari, that it had won in 2014. The party’s vote share in 2019 was 3.66 per cent.

In the 2021 state assembly polls, the party contested from 20 seats in alliance with the AIADMK and won from four seats, but had a vote share of 2.6 per cent, less than the 2.84 per cent from 188 contested seats in 2016.

After the 2022 local body polls in Tamil Nadu, state president Annamalai had claimed to be the “third largest party” in the state based on votes received. The claim had, however, been refuted by experts, who said that there was a huge gap in the number of seats contested by the BJP (45 per cent) and Congress (around 10 per cent).

“BJP is a party that markets itself as a success,” said Panneerselvan who added that Tamil Nadu has a key role in deciding the ruling government in the Centre. “BJP came to power (at the Centre) in 1998 with the support of AIADMK. When the AIADMK pulled out, the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) supported it in 1999. 1998 and 1999 are lessons that show that one is looking at Tamil Nadu for the numbers.”

(Edited by Geethalakshmi Ramanathan)

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