Amid heat over ‘Vetrivel Yatra’, Tamil Nadu BJP waits for Amit Shah’s arrival

New Delhi: Discussions around the future of the alliance between the ruling AIADMK and BJP in Tamil Nadu that has run into friction over the latter’s ‘Vetrivel Yatra’ have heated up as home minister Amit Shah’s visit to the state draws closer.Shah is likely to spend Saturday in Tamil Nadu during which he will attend the inauguration of the Phase II project of the Chennai Metro Rail and meet the core committee BJP members of the state. Unlike his recent two-day visit to poll-bound West Bengal during which he met BJP workers and office bearers from four zones, and reached out to the SC and ST communities, no other political engagements have been planned for him as of now. However, the state BJP unit is looking for high-profile people who can be inducted into the party in his presence. Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu are expected to be held around May 2021.AIADMK that has supported BJP in all of its decisions including abrogation of Article 370 and the Citizenship Amendment Act, defying only in principle the Centre’s common medical test and the National Education Policy, has now insisted that it will not allow BJP’s Vetrivel Yatra, saying it will “disrupt peace and harmony in the state”.

“BJP wants to be seen as a contender against DMK and damage its performance”

— Political Observers

The month-long Yatra was designed to consolidate the Hindu vote bank by invoking Lord Muruga, a popular deity among the Tamils. The idea of the yatra stemmed from a controversy when BJP took on a YouTube channel that was critical of Kandha Sashti Kavasam, a devotional song dedicated to Lord Muruga. Two senior ministers and BJP president JP Nadda were scheduled to attend the yatra.BJP’s state president, L Murugan, has said Shah’s visit since taking over as the union home minister was expected to boost the morale of the cadre.

BJP has recently appointed its national general secretary CT Ravi as the party incharge of the state. Ravi is close to BJP’s national organisation secretary BL Santhosh, who is working on the best strategy for Tamil Nadu. Observers said BJP wanted to be seen as a contender against DMK and damage its performance, and that its national leaders were also aware of the party’s feeble organisational strength in the state and would go only with a strong ally.A section of party leaders however feels it is in the long-term interest of BJP to disassociate itself with AIADMK and put forward a strong third front, with entities such as Rajnikanth, GK Vasan and actor Vijaykanth’s DMDK.”The state unit of the BJP is riddled with factions and they don’t want to go with the AIADMK. But the national leaders know how to get the work done. Even in Bihar, it was Shah and others who took the final call on seat sharing. As with regard to the AIADMK, the leaders don’t have the stature of (former chief minister J) Jayalalithaa to demand to contest on all seats,” a BJP office bearer told ET, on the condition of anonymity.Political analyst Perumal Mani said it would harm both parties if they decided to fight separately. “It is understandable that the AIADMK might want to control some damage, as it feels going with the BJP hurts its chances of getting any minority vote. But the minority votes will anyway go to the DMK. Even the anti-DMK, caste votes and pro-Hindutva votes will get split if the BJP and AIADMK contest separately. At least if they are together they can work towards a combined vote share,” he added.