Chennai: It may have been an attempt to compensate for the lack of a prominent Thevar (Mukkulathor) face in the party, but AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami now finds himself in a political bind.
Addressing public meetings last week in Dindigul district, Palaniswami, or EPS, revived an old promise—to rename the Madurai Airport after freedom fighter and former parliamentarian Pasumpon U. Muthuramalinga.
If it returns to power in the state next year, the AIADMK will push the Union government to rename Madurai Airport after Muthuramalinga and seek a Bharat Ratna for the Thevar community icon. The AIADMK is part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
EPS’s move, aimed at consolidating support from the influential Thevar community (an umbrella term for Kallar, Maravar and Agamudaiyar castes) in the state’s southern districts, triggered an immediate backlash from Devendrakula Vellalars and rival political outfits in the region.
Devendrakula Vellalars is an umbrella term for seven sub-castes, namely Devendrakulathan, Kalladi, Kudumban, Pallan, Pannadi, Vathiriyan and Kadaiyan.
Political analysts ThePrint spoke to said EPS was trying to compensate for the lack of a Thevar face in the party, after the expulsion of O. Panneerselvam, T.T.V. Dhinakaran and V.K. Sasikala from the AIADMK.
The AIADMK, which once enjoyed the support of the Thevars, is now struggling after expulsion of leaders from the community, political analyst Perumal Murugan told ThePrint. “This has weakened the party and it is seen in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, where they went to third position and fourth position in several constituencies in the Southern region.”
Murugan added that EPS, however, “missed the point that elections cannot be won with the support of a single community, but with the collective support of the majority of the people in the region”.
There isn’t a single assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu where any particular community dominates the electoral roll, he said.
Also Read: KA Sengottaiyan: MGR loyalist, Jayalalithaa’s strategist and now challenger to AIADMK chief EPS
EPS faces heat from NDA allies
The announcement by EPS has also not gone down well with outfits that claim to represent the interests of Dalits or political parties representing Devendrakula Vellalars in southern Tamil Nadu.
Devendrar Panpattu Kazhagam, an outfit that claims to represent the community, has demanded that the airport in the temple town of Madurai be named after Immanuel Sekaran, a Dalit rights activist murdered in 1957.
“It was the Dalits who gave much of their land for the airport. It was Devendrakula families who should be credited for the giving up their assets for the welfare of the people. Hence, the airport should be named after Immanuel Sekaran. EPS’s move is an attempt to create friction between the communities in the south (state’s southern region),” M. Sakravarthi, president of Devendrar Panpattu Kazhagam, told ThePrint.
NDA allies, Puthiya Tamilagam founder K. Krishnasamy and Tamizhaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam president P. John Pandian have also openly condemned EPS, accusing him of indulging in divisive politics.
On its part, the AIADMK tried to play down the situation by arguing that Muthuramalinga should not be seen as the leader of any one community.
“He is a pride of Tamil Nadu and the proposal was meant to honour history rather than caste identity. The demand from the people and the promise by AIADMK is also not new,” party spokesperson Kovai Sathyan told ThePrint.
Former head of political science department at Madras University, Ramu Manivannan, said AIADMK leaders have used symbolic recognition of caste pride without reducing AIADMK into a caste-based party, which helped them maintain a broad Dravidian umbrella. “Dravidian parties historically avoided aligning with any single caste because of the risks to their wider social coalition. They always had a balance in supporting the caste groups and that balance allowed Dravidian parties to sustain their dominance without turning the party into an overt caste party,” he told ThePrint.
Manivannan also pointed out that EPS’s move must be seen less as a broad political strategy and more as an attempt to carve out a space for himself within the Thevar community. “EPS is trying to build an entry point to get support among the Mukkulathor community. This is more about internal space-building, than larger political propagation,” he argued.
Taking cue from MGR, Jayalalithaa
This is not the first time AIADMK is attempting to consolidate caste groups in its favour. Party founder M.G. Ramachandran attended Thevar Jayanthi celebrations (birth anniversary of Pasumpon U. Muthuramalinga), in 1973.
After coming to power in 1977, MGR went a step further in 1978 and declared Thevar Jayanthi as a state event and bestowed state honours on Muthuramalingam. After MGR’s demise, his successor J. Jayalalithaa continued the state’s support for Thevar Jayanthi as chief minister.
Perumal Mani said Jayalalithaa had another advantage of having Sasikala from the Thevar community by her side. “This gave her an extra edge and support from the community. She also made sure that the people from the community got proper representation in the cabinet and the support increased when she appointed O. Panneerselvam from the Thevar community as chief minister on two occasions,” he told ThePrint.
In September 2001, Jayalalithaa made OPS the chief minister for the first time after her conviction in the TANSI land deal case. OPS was her choice to lead the government again when she was convicted in September 2014, this time in a disproportionate assets case.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: Denied meeting with Modi, OPS walks out of NDA, keeps political opponents guessing next move
