Parties spar over move to prohibit celebrations of Vinayaka Chathurthi in pandemic.
New Delhi: Politically, this Vinayaka Chathurthi has turned out to be not very auspicious for the BJP in Tamil Nadu. This southern Dravidian state has been under Narendra Modi-Amit Shah combine’s radar ever since the untimely demise of ruling AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa. The ruling party at the Centre had to a very large extent partially succeeded in its efforts to get a toe hold in the state with its alliance with the leadership that had emerged to control AIADMK after the departure of Amma. The BJP central leadership had in the past two years given the impression that the Edappadi Palaniswami government in the state is obliged to them in hanging on to power, given the dissension within the party after the death of its charismatic leader. With the biggest contender to Jayalalithaa’s legacy, V.K. Sasikala, in prison and her nephew Dinakaran somewhat sidelined, the Centre had made all the right moves to make life easy for Palaniswami and company. The central BJP leadership had even helped patch up the differences between the Chief Minister and the immediate aspirant to his chair, O. Panneerselvam.
Though it was not clear whether the rank and file was in agreement of the current AIADMK leadership’s alliance with BJP, the two gave the impression of a smooth working relationship, despite differences over contentious issues that matter to the heart of the state such as the issue of “imposition” of Hindi. That the AIADMK under the leadership of Palaniswami lacked in the art of governance was a matter of concern, it was somehow able to carry on with a bit of help from Delhi. Or, the BJP had succeeded in creating an image that the state government was obliged to it for its continuance in power. The party even shunted out its state president Tamilisai Soundararajan who had been at loggerheads with the AIADMK leadership. All this had given the impression that everything was fine with both the parties as they cruise towards the Assembly elections slated May 2021.
But fissures have now appeared in their relationship following the state government’s decision to prohibit public celebrations of Vinayaka Chathurthi in the light of the widespread Coronavirus outbreak in the state. The BJP, as usual, did not want to lose an opportunity to appease its Hindu vote bank as well as make use of the occasion to flaunt its growing strength, whatever it may be, in the state. So BJP’s national secretary H. Raja started it all with a tweet. He wrote that the neighbouring Karnataka government had allowed public processions and celebrations in that state for the festival as it is a “masculine” one compared to the AIADMK which lacked “manliness” as it was “hiding behind the saree for the last thirty years”. It was clearly a dig, if not an insult, to the AIADMK leadership and a clear reference to the late J. Jayalalithaa who had led the party for over three decades. Quite naturally, any adverse comments about Amma are unacceptable to AIADMK even if her memory is slowly fading in the minds of the people of the state. State Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar joined the issue with Raja. He tweeted with a hidden warning to BJP. “AIADMK is very much a manly party, ours is a manly government too. Do not rub us the wrong way.”
He did not stop there. Recalling an incident from the past in which Raja had blamed his Twitter admin after a tweet from him triggered a controversy resulting in Raja offering an apology before the Madras High Court. “All of you know about Raja. We have already seen his greatness and manliness…Do people who post a tweet and go hiding have manliness?” Jayakumar countered. Jayakumar also hit out against the current state BJP leadership, saying that all of them had at one time or other used to “queue in front of someone’s house” in Pose Gardens not long ago, an obvious reference to the late Jalayalithaa’s residence which is now being converted into a museum. Raja and his state party chief L. Murugan continued to argue that if the state government could keep liquor shops open, why it could not allow Vinayaka Chathurthi festivities.
Incidentally, Vinayaka Chathurthi had never been celebrated with much fanfare compared to Deepavali in the state where because of Dravidian influence, there is not much scope for celebrations and festivities in the name of Hindu gods and goddesses as is the case in north India. This is something which the BJP is hoping to change. Chief Minister Palaniswami tried to bring about truce by asserting that his government was only following Madras High Court strictures. The court on Wednesday had refused to pass an order on the festivities, contending that the state had already put a ban on such festivities in the light of the alarming spread of coronavirus which has already claimed over 6,200 lives in the state. The enthusiasm shown by the BJP in the case of Ganesha may not be very fruitful for the party politically. Covid or no Covid, as the Assembly elections near, the AIADMK leadership is waiting for any opportunity to distance itself from the ruling party at the Centre which is still finding it difficult to get acceptability for its ideology in the state. The sooner the state BJP leadership understands this reality, the better for the party prospects in Tamil Nadu which is still under the sway of the Dravidian parties, something which even new contenders to power such as Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth have come to accept.