The Tamil Nadu BJP has drawn way more political attention than peers of its size in the state. This is partly true for it being the regional unit of an all-powerful national party ruling at the Centre, but more so because the attempt to make the BJP count as an influential electoral force has been earnest, multi-year, and with intent straight from Delhi.
And yet, the BJP still has a lot of distance to cover in Tamil Nadu.
Here’s where the BJP chief in Tamil Nadu finds himself in a position that is unfortunate, yet with a lot of potential for real change. At last, after two leadership changes — Tamilisai Soundararajan and L Murugan — the state BJP has a leader who seems willing, too eager sometimes, to get into the kind of realpolitik Tamil Nadu has seen and thrived on. Annamalai comes across as ready and prepared to adopt an aggressive brand of politics.
This week, Annamalai frontally launched a corruption charge at Chief Minister MK Stalin, an “expose” he called the DMK Files. While this is not the first time Annamalai has taken the fight to the DMK, his statement seemed to hint at a wider strategy. A firm yet subtle message was sent out in his speech on DMK Files that ally AIADMK might also find itself in the BJP’s crusade against corruption.
“We are not going one-sided. The moment we talk about scams and corruption, it is only natural that we talk about every single party that has stayed in power using taxpayers’ money. Once you take up the corruption angle, it is only fair that you present the facts before the Tamil makkal of every single party that has come to power on people’s money,” Annamalai said on Friday.
While the DMK responded sharply through organising secretary RS Bharathi, the AIADMK has not reacted so far to the Annamalai campaign.
For the DMK, too, it makes sense to train its guns on the BJP so it has a wider say in the national scheme of things, as opposed to locking horns with its regional contestant AIADMK.
At a high level, the BJP has two options in front of it: Join hands with the AIADMK, haggle for seats and ensure a few have a higher chance of victory. This is a safer and time-tested strategy for any regional party with limited sway in a state.
But this path already appears to be narrowing. The AIADMK-BJP alliance has been going through a rough patch ever since the East Erode bypoll was announced.
While the BJP tried to unite the EPS and the OPS camp, Edappadi Palaniswami appeared as though he wanted to elbow out the BJP. The campaign began without a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This paved the way for speculations of a break-up between the AIADMK and the BJP. The rift escalated after Annamalai — in an internal meeting of the BJP — said the party should fight it alone in 2024. In a derisive response, Palaniswami said state leaders don’t decide on the alliance.
For Annamalai, the second option is the tougher one: prepare the ground for a more wholesome, independent victory a few years down the line, start propagandising on issues that project the all-powerful as a tyrannous force out to subjugate the population through its brute force, abuse of institutions, and control of civil society voices.
From the way Annamalai has begun his campaign — particularly his statement that no party would be spared — it appears as though the BJP has chosen Option II.
For any party that has strong motivations and a long-term strategy in mind, Option II always seems the right one. But it requires the right set — not just the leader — of people for thorough execution. In the case of Annamalai, what might be seen as inadequate could be his political maturity in managing treacherous traps laid out in front of him, both from within the party and enemies outside. Secondly, Annamalai has to realise sooner than later that electoral victories go beyond war room efficiency.
For inspiration, he should look at the DMK. After a costly slip in May 2016, the DMK appears to have learnt an important lesson — elections need both granular and in-depth attention to every aspect of public importance; the right alliances, political narrative, and near-perfect campaign strategists and execution. While Annamalai may have got his first step right, the road ahead has several tricky milestones and challenges.
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