Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai.
Credit: DH Photo
On the 103rd day of 'En Mann, En Makkal' yatra, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai sat with DH’s E.T.B Sivapriyan for an interview. Covering a range of issues, the former Karnataka-cadre IPS officer said the BJP’s vote share will witness a “dramatic increase” in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
He also spoke about his yatra, and asserted that he doesn’t feel sorry about stating facts with regard to Dravidian legends C N Annadurai and J Jayalalithaa that were cited as reason by the AIADMK to snap ties with the BJP.
Your yatra has covered almost all assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu. How has the people’s response been?
'En Mann, En Makkal' has now become a people’s movement beyond being BJP’s yatra. The response from people has been tremendous as the yatra reflects their aspirations. In some places, the yatra was like a festival, we made it micro by identifying 100 beneficiaries of Central schemes and bringing 10 of them to the stage in every constituency.
Through this, we spread the word that people of Tamil Nadu have immensely benefitted under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We are happy that people are looking at the yatra as an opportunity to usher in a new kind of political culture in Tamil Nadu.
The yatra is focused on building a strong base for the BJP in Tamil Nadu or solely aimed at reversing the 2019 election results that saw the party sweeping the rest of the country but the alliance facing a drubbing here?
I believe Tamil Nadu faced an artificial (anti-Modi) wave in 2019 as things were blown out of proportion. Five years down the line, I can say that there is a pro-Modi wave in Tamil Nadu. Of course, Tamil Nadu is a state that is ideologically inclined with fixed vote patterns. One should look at the quality and quantity of the work that has taken place in Tamil Nadu under the BJP rule.
I agree that Tamil Nadu still witnesses a pattern where voting takes place strictly on party lines as the (two) Dravidian parties (DMK and AIADMK) are well entrenched for a very long time.
However, around 50 per cent of the voters are looking for an alternative and this time, I believe, BJP will be the party of choice for any voter who wants a change in the state, and continuity in the Central government. I believe this election will be historic as we think there will be a shift in the voting pattern.
Are you coming to say that just one yatra and a few months of hard work on the ground will turn things completely in favour of the BJP?
The yatra is one of the many things as thousands of cadres have been toiling on the ground silently for the past many years to build the party. We now have an increased presence in mainstream and social media and we are quite active in responding to the government as an opposition party.
Maybe, we are more visible now, but we have always been in the ground. Not only have we added muscle strength to the party this time, we have also got our narrative right. This turnaround will get reflected in the 2024 mandate.
You speak about going to the roots and getting very close to the people, but is the BJP, in a way, trying to Dravidianize itself to gain people’s confidence?
We need not copy any of the things that Dravidian parties do. We understand Dravidian politics is a movement and they have a very well entrenched system where the party is more identified by the local leadership. But, right now people are seeing everything that is wrong with Dravidian politics which has become one man and one family centered, nepotism oriented, and above all, a corruption-oriented model.
BJP is also a movement; the party got strengthened through several yatra. This yatra of ours focusses on taking the party to the grassroots and this is our own model, not copied from anyone.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah flagged off the yatra from Rameswaram and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the valedictory event. Is TN being accorded so much importance only because it has 39 seats?
It shows their love for Tamil Nadu, its people, and culture. Our leaders attach importance to this yatra because this is the first time we have covered all 234 assembly constituencies and localised it to the core. Any keen observer who has watched this yatra will know that the party has put its complete weight, and trained itself to the maximum to enable this yatra. Naturally, the PM and Home Minister want to support us. When you sweat it out, the PM also likes to sweat it out. That’s how things work in the BJP.
All pointers in the ground are positive and we are picking up a lot of good signals from the ground. I believe BJP has already crossed 20 per cent votes in Tamil Nadu and we just have to wait for the elections to validate it.
Don’t you think 20 per cent is too big a number and is the BJP over-estimating its strength in Tamil Nadu?
There is nothing wrong in over estimating. When we launched the yatra, everyone mocked us saying who would come. When people started coming, they said people from other parties were participating. The way yatra itself transformed from constituency one to constituency 228 (Madurai), we saw a lot of naysayers changing their opinion after seeing people's response.
Of course, BJP getting into Tamil Nadu and winning elections is a big thing as we know up against a fortress, a wall that has been built with the help of money power, dynastic power, ill-gotten wealth, and nepotism.
We are beginning to break that wall and we know it is not going to happen today or tomorrow. It is a work in progress.
The 2024 election will be a milestone, and 2026 will be another milestone. We will be reaching one milestone after the other. We will continue to play.
While you say the ground is positive for the BJP, opinion polls, however, say the DMK will sweep Tamil Nadu, while your party will win a third term with a bigger majority than in 2019. Your response?
The opinion polls with respect to Tamil Nadu have got the sense right, not in terms of numbers, but the way voters are moving towards the BJP. These polls are giving BJP 16 to 21 per cent vote share. This way, they have got the sense right.
For a bigger vote share to get converted into seats, you have to cross 24-25 percent. The moment BJP crosses the threshold of vote share, the DMK’s numbers will come down and we will go up. That is why I say they (opinion polls) have got the sense right.
AIADMK snapped ties with the BJP last year. Do you regret AIADMK walking out of the NDA?
Why should I regret? I never regret anything. I am a very positive, aggressive and optimistic politician. Is there even a tinge of regret in my speeches for the past five months after they (AIADMK) made its decision? I have no regrets at all.
While quitting NDA, the AIADMK singled you out for its decision? Do you regret making statements against Dravidian stalwarts C N Annadurai and J Jayalalithaa?
I don't regret any statements that I made in the past. Immediately after they quit NDA, AIADMK leaders said I was the reason. One week later, they said it was because of the party (BJP), and one week later, they got into appeasement politics (by wooing Muslims).
There has been no consistency in their stand. One day they say Annamalai is the problem, and the next day they say Annamalai was not the problem. Such things happen when you (AIADMK) are in a state of confusion. They keep changing goal posts every day.
Every statement that I made was 100 per cent factual. Is it not a fact that a former Chief Minister in Tamil Nadu (J Jayalalithaa) was convicted for corruption? I still stand by my statement that DMK founder C N Annadurai “apologised” to Forward Bloc leader Muthuramalinga Thevar and “ran away from Madurai” after his comments on rationalism. It is part of recorded history and I just reiterated the facts.
Is the BJP stitching an alliance of its own in Tamil Nadu?
Yes, in the coming days, you will see a lot of alliance partners joining us. Our common goal is to bring Narendra Modi back to power with 400 seats. Parties that share our vision will extend their support to us.
DMK and Chief Minister M K Stalin allege that the Union Government discriminates against Opposition-ruled states in allotting funds. What is your response?
Tamil Nadu has received over Rs 11 lakh crores from the Centre in the past 10 years and is one of the states with highest number of beneficiaries of Central schemes. If DMK thinks all the money should be routed only through the Gopalapuram (first) family, then Tamil Nadu is certainly starved of funds.
Over 46 lakh farmers in the state get Rs 6,000 per year, lakhs of people have availed Mudra loans and get subsidy for LPG cylinders. Is it not the way of returning money to the state? If DMK calculates only the budgetary support, they are living in a fool’s paradise. Won't the DMK count beneficiaries of Central schemes?
There is no discrimination against states by the Centre. The North-South divide plank which M K Stalin has taken up won’t work this time. (DMK founder) Annadurai dropped that plank long back and if Stalin takes it up again, I am sure it will bite him back.
DMK and other political parties fear that the 2026 delimitation will reduce South India’s political representation in Parliament and want the exercise to be junked. Your opinion?
The Union Government will announce, after 2024 elections, the shape and form of the delimitation exercise. No state will stand discriminated against and that is the BJP's vision. The Prime Minister will ensure that no state gets discriminated against and that is for sure.