March 24, 2024, is the date. Udhayanidhi Stalin, the son of DMK leader and Tamil Nadu chief minister Stalin, was conducting election rallies in Theni and Ramanathapuram. He got up and pointed at the crowd, asking, "Why shouldn't Modi be called 28 paise PM? We're going to call him that starting today." The throng begins to repeat this chant.
March 25, 2024, is the date. Stalin declares that the Center will not be contributing money to the Michong Cyclone relief efforts and that, like Karnataka, he will challenge this decision in the Supreme Court. Stalin declares, "It is evident that these people have rejected our request for Rs 37 thousand crores from the Modi government." Tamils are referred to as "beggars" by one of their ministers and as "terrorists" by another. We are not a defeatist people.
These are the main points of contention in the DMK's election campaign, not just these two assertions.
However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also made an effort to isolate the DMK by making accusations of anti-Hinduism and nepotism. These five main concerns influencing the Lok Sabha election vote can be understood by touring Tamil Nadu and speaking with locals.
1. The Tamil Nadu government receives 28 paise from the central government for every rupee it sends. The unpaid GST is not being paid. As a result, the state's development has stopped, and the Center gives UP Rs. 2 instead of Rs. 1.
2. In 2023, South Tamil Nadu was struck by a Michong cyclone. PM Modi has never visited the impacted districts, and neither the Center nor the Center have released cash for assistance as of yet. Not only did the Prime Minister leave Gujarat-Uttarakhand when this occurred, but he also pledged assistance the following day.
3. For young voters, the NEET exam is a major concern. Prior to NEET, Tamil Nadu offered medical seats based on performance on the 12th board. Following the introduction of NEET, this changed. Young voters claim that the NEET syllabus is based on the CBSE. State boards are not taken seriously. The Tamil Nadu administration has gone so far as to claim that the implementation of this is a discriminatory measure against the state's youngsters.
4. Ten years ago, the construction of an AIIMS in Madurai was announced. Even yet, construction has not begun. Following this, AIIMS was launched and subsequently made operational in numerous additional states. The Central Government views this as discriminatory as well.
5. For the people of Tamil Nadu, PM Modi serves as an external leader. Here, Dravidian politics continue to have an impact. The local populace dislikes polarized politics and Hinduism. As a result of concerns about the Uniform Civil Code and the CAA, minority votes have favored DMK. Although the Ram Temple has made people pleased, the BJP will not be able to get support for this issue.
Tamil Nadu residents stated: "Hindutva or the Ram temple is not a problem here."
Varun Kant, a journalism student, introduced himself to us on the Madras University campus in Chennai. He states, "BJP is focusing on things like one party, one nation, and one religion" in response to the query of election-related problems. India is a diverse nation. Everybody practices a different religion. Different civilizations exist. The BJP has one community in mind. This whole thing irritates the people here.
Hanu, Varun's classmate, queries: "BJP conducts and heavily promotes programs such as G-20." However, green material is used to cover the Delhi slums during the summit. What category of advancement is this? For us, NEET is a major problem. How will kids without money pay for private NEET coaching? How are underprivileged kids going to become doctors?
We met the vegetable vendor, Sukant, in Chennai's Chatpat neighborhood. Inflation has significantly soared, he claims. A cylinder costs a lot of money. Modi does not like it because Tamil Nadu is not receiving any funding from him.
In the Chatpat region, we met Dinesh Sharma, the operator of a medical store. Dinesh's family moved to Chennai from Rajasthan. 'I don't know who will win in Tamil Nadu, but the driver has greater popularity,' he says. It is hard to influence the PM's visit in any way. It appears that the driver here will operate the vehicle in the same manner.
Another tea vendor, Santosh, comments, "I think DMK will win, but Ram Mandir and CAA are good."
Some questions required answers after people's comprehension of these issues was gained. The BJP State President Annamalai and Prime Minister Narendra Modi charged the DMK with being anti-Hindu, anti-Sanatan, and familyist. What became of national concerns like CAA and Ram Mandir, too?
How about the Ram temple and the accusations against Sanatana?
In response to this query, Suresh Kumar, deputy resident editor of The Hindu, the largest English daily in South India, states, "There are already many Ram temples in Tamil Nadu." Here is Rameshwaram; there is Kashi in the north. At one point, Jayalalitha had also attempted to send bricks to help the Ram temple, but her efforts had only been unsuccessful. The party had then turned its back on this matter.
But this time, when the Ram temple's Pran Pratistha program was implemented, some support began to show up in the cities. Support comes from several OBC castes in addition to Brahmins. It isn't powerful enough to affect the election's outcome, though.
Suman Rao, a political analyst, adds, "Tamil Nadu has nothing against the Hindutva of the BJP." Here, it makes no sense. Big BJP concerns like the abolition of Section 370, the CAA, the Ram Mandir, and the Uniform Civil Code don't help this situation.
The Center does not provide funding to Tamil Nadu. Since 2019, this problem has persisted among the populace. Sengol or the Tamil-Kashi confluence won't bring about any changes.
"BJP may call DMK anti-Hindu, but the truth is that no temple has been damaged and the government has not taken any such step to prove this," senior journalist Kubendran says. Tamil Nadu has safer temples than the rest of the nation.
Every party in Tamil Nadu has nepotism, with the BJP being a victim of it.
Suresh Kumar, Deputy Resident Editor of "The Hindu," comments on the subject of nepotism: "It is difficult for issues like nepotism to have an impact in Tamil Nadu." Every party here is following this trend. At the moment, the PMK and BJP are in an alliance. This party is led by Ramdas, who has appointed his son as its president. A member of the BJP alliance is GK Vasan. He is the son of prominent Congress leader G.K. Mupnar.
After leaving the party and accusing the DMK of nepotism, Rajya Sabha MP Vaiko has now granted his son Durai Vaiyapuri an MDMK ticket for this election. If it had been MGR's or Jayalalitha's family, they would have been the AIADMK's leaders.
When it comes to Udayanidhi Stalin, he prevails by running for office. The Rajya Sabha did not receive him. Indeed, there was undoubtedly discontent among the populace regarding Udhayanidhi's appointment as a minister. But in this election, Udhayanidhi is the DMK's main campaigner. Tamil Nadu doesn't appear to be experiencing this problem.
We arrived in Thiruvallikeni, Chennai, in pursuit of answers on the Tamil Nadu minority vote's stance and the significance of the CAA. Here, it's referred to as triplicane. This area is home to a sizable Muslim population. We got to know Irshad and Kamal, his childhood friend, here.
Here, the DMK-Congress combination will win all 39 seats, according to Irshad. The politics of Hinduism will not succeed here. This is Kamal, a friend of mine. I'm Irshad. Since we were little, we have been together. This is the culture that exists here. We have witnessed what transpired in the North following the BJP's entrance. All of this stuff is not welcome here. We are protected as long as Stalin is around. Here, the Dravidian model is applicable.
Kamal simply responds, "I like Stalin," when we ask him questions. lack extensive knowledge about politics. However, they are likable.
We arrived in the Royapettah area from this point. There are a lot of Muslims living here as well. We met Shoaib, an MCA student, here. "DMK will end NEET; this is a big issue for the students," says Shoaib. Reducing the price of gasoline has also been requested. Here, only DMK will prevail.
Shoaib responds, "Until the floods came, DMK had helped the victims a lot," when asked what the state government has offered him.
Shoaib comments, "Heard about Ram Mandir." Additionally, direct trains began to operate. The Ayodhya train is running, but there are no trains to the surrounding towns.
We first met Syed Iqbal, a local businessman, at this location. "BJP talks about religion; it has no effect here," the man asserts. Here, Ram Temple is likewise not a problem. North's problems don't apply here. It is true that there are attacks on the Muslim community, and this is wrong.
"There has never been a Hindu-Muslim conflict here, except for one incident in 1998," claims Suresh Kumar, deputy resident editor of "The Hindu." This is also because Muslim groups like SDPI are affiliated with AIADMK, and there is a Muslim League with the DMK.
There's a lot of discord among these Hindus. Here, anti-Brahmin sentiment has a greater influence on people than anti-Muslim sentiment. People in this area consider that the conflict between Muslims and Hindus is the result of Brahministic ideology.
Here, BJP politician Annamalai attempted to adopt an anti-Christian stance despite not being a Muslim. There had been a suicide among the students. According to Annamalai, there is pressure on the school's students to become Christians. Nevertheless, there was no proof discovered to back up this claim. These kinds of attempts are persistent. Depending on how quickly the BJP advances here will determine how long the brotherhood endures in the villages.
Karunanidhi had stated, "Hindus are thieves, but look at these problems now."
While the general public does not view Hindutva as a problem, Suresh Kumar, the Deputy Resident Editor of "The Hindu," acknowledges that Hindutva is a problem in Tamil Nadu right now. While there is no problem, the BJP's tactic of branding the DMK as an anti-Hindu party is not ineffective.
"Allow me to tell you a tale." During the UPA administration, the Setu Samudram project was discussed, and there was discussion about destroying Ram Setu. Karunanidhi was then questioned about this. In response, he said that Ram was the engineer who constructed the floating bridge.
He was adamantly opposed to Hinduism. He even remarked once that the word Hindu implies thief. Subsequently, though, he claimed to have meant to suggest that the person who wins everyone over is Hindu, using a definition. All of this was then possible to say in Tamil Nadu, and not even the BJP could effectively resist it. AIADMK was never against it either.
Suresh Kumar claims that the mood began to shift directly in front of Karunanidhi. It was the rise of Narendra Modi in national politics. Karunanidhi only spoke with The Hindu in his final interview. He wrote the screenplay for a television series based on Saint Ramanujan's life.
He was asked during the interview, "You are writing a script on a Hindu saint, but you are considered anti-Hindu." "The majority of our party's members practice the same religion that you are calling me an opponent of," he responded. Additionally, Karunanidhi saw that the anti-Hindu stance could potentially backfire.
The DMK has now begun to refute the claims that it is an anti-Hindu party. Stalin frequently claims to have dedicated a thousand Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu. Additionally, the reservation for OBCs, or Hindus, has been enhanced.
The situation has changed to the point where the BJP is now forcing the DMK to defend itself. We must repeatedly state that we do not harbor anti-Hindu sentiments. Tamil Nadu politics have now reached a turning point when it is difficult to make anti-Hindu remarks.
