M K Stalin, EPS pay respects to Thevar on his jayanthi as parties eye Mukkulathor community votes

Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday attended the ‘guru pooja’ celebrations of Forward Bloc leader Muthuramalinga Thevar in Pasumpon village as the two Dravidian majors continue to woo Mukkulathors, a numerically strong and politically influential community.

BJP’s Tamilisai Soundararajan, the former Telangana Governor, and expelled AIADMK leaders V K Sasikala, O Panneerselvam, and T T V Dhinakaran, were also in attendance at the event to commemorate Thevar’s birth and death anniversary falling on the same date. Newbie politician Vijay didn’t visit Pasumpon, but paid glowing tributes to Thevar.

Thevar, a freedom fighter and leader of the All India Forward Bloc who worked under Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, is a polarising figure in Tamil Nadu politics.

He is considered a demi-god by the Mukkulathors – an umbrella term for Kallars, Agamudaiyars, and Maravars – while Dalits denounce him as the two communities have had a chequered history in southern Tamil Nadu, which once saw frequent riots.

Mukkulathors, who are spread across Central and Southern Tamil Nadu, constitute a significant vote bank and once formed the core support base of the AIADMK. But after the death of AIADMK stalwart J Jayalalithaa in 2016, the community has been split in its support, partly due to the expulsion of Sasikala, OPS, and Dhinakaran, all Mukkulathors.

DMK, despite not enjoying the complete trust of the community, has been trying to woo the Mukkulathors and hopes to garner a portion of the votes in the 2024 polls. Stalin had on Monday inaugurated additional structures at the memorial of Thevar in Pasumpon. The efforts come with just 18 months left for the Assembly polls in 2026.

Palaniswami’s visit assumes significance in the wake of the AIADMK being relegated to the third slot in many constituencies in southern Tamil Nadu in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The party lost the second position to Dhinakaran in Theni, OPS in Ramanathapuram, Nainar Nagendran, Pon Radhakrishnan, and R Sreenivasan of the BJP in Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, and Madurai – Mukkulathors form a significant chunk of voters in all these seats.

AIADMK, through its Mukkulathors leaders, has been making serious efforts to enlist the support of the community but in vain. Efforts by Palaniswami, including appointing R B Udhayakumar, a Mukulathor, as the deputy leader of the AIADMK Legislature Party, and giving prominence to other leaders from the community haven’t succeeded so far.

BJP, with the help of Dhinakaran and OPS, has been reaching out to the community, attempting a social engineering by bringing together the V and Devendrakula Vellalars (DVK). However, the party’s efforts couldn’t succeed in the 2024 polls with the DMK alliance winning all the 39 seats. Mukkulathors wield considerable influence in over 10 Lok Sabha constituencies and 50 assembly segments.

Thevar, who was associated with the Congress and later with the AIFB, was arrested in connection with the murder of Dalit leader Immanuel Sekaran.

Thevar had on September 10, 1957 objected to the presence of Sekaran at a peace conference convened by the then Ramanathapuram district collector C V R Panikkar following violence in the area. The following day, Sekaran was found murdered in Paramakudi leading to escalation of violence in Ramanathapuram district.