23 in 1 month: Modi's ministers make beeline for Tamil Nadu

On October 16, Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Smriti Irani were in Chennai and Coimbatore respectively to “oversee” the progress of Centrally-sponsored schemes in Tamil Nadu. After a review, they levelled allegations of irregularities and corruption against the ruling DMK.

And this wasn’t “routine” visits by ministers from New Delhi to states – Goyal and Irani were the 22nd and 23rd Union Minister to have descended on Tamil Nadu in the past one month as part of a major political outreach by the BJP which is trying to get a toehold in the state where Dravidian parties have been ruling the roost for the past five decades.

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In the next 40 to 50 days, sources told DH, that the remaining 40-odd Union Ministers, including the very influential names, will visit various parts of the state and meet party cadres and functionaries apart from “reviewing” and auditing Central schemes.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has instructed all his 77 cabinet colleagues to visit Tamil Nadu to review the schemes implemented by his government. He has also asked them to give a report on any irregularities or corruption in implementing the schemes at the state-level. 23 ministers have visited so far while the remaining 54 will visit in the next 50 days,” a top source said.

Though reviewing the progress of schemes sponsored by the Union Government is the official reason cited for flooding the state with visits by ministers, the motive behind the move seems to be purely political.

“The visits are nothing but part of Mission Tamil Nadu. We want to win over the people of the state. That is why the work for 2024 has begun now,” another source told DH.

'Right time to make the push'

Though the BJP is still viewed as a “Hindi-Hindutva” party in the Tamil heartland despite several efforts for decades, top leaders believe the time is now ripe to make the push. They believe that ally AIADMK fighting itself due to the internal strife that began after the death of its leader J Jayalalithaa in 2016 could play to its advantage.

“There is a view that the BJP and Modi are hated in Tamil Nadu. We want to change that. By making Union Ministers visit several parts of the state, we want to send across the message that they indeed get benefitted from the Centre like other states. Such outreach, we believe, will bring us closer to the people,” a senior BJP leader told DH.

Even as a massive effort is on to make inroads, state BJP has been on the defensive mode for the past one week with the DMK going on the offensive against the Centre on “Hindi imposition.” Another BJP leader said the issue of Hindi still has resonance in Tamil Nadu and any news regarding the language’s alleged imposition derails all efforts taken by the state unit.

“Our goal is to emerge as the prime and ideological opponent to the DMK. And we feel the chances for BJP’s growth in Tamil Nadu is brighter now than ever in the past. And the visits by Union Ministers will help boost the confidence of our party functionaries and cadres. Such initiatives are much needed before 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” another BJP leader said.

Like Goyal and Irani, every other minister who has visited the state so far has taken a strident anti-DMK line accusing the ruling party of corruption. The DMK and its government have refuted charges of corruption and asked the Union Ministers not to make “wild allegations.”

BJP and its objective

Political observers said the BJP feels this is the right time to “strike” not just to “needle” the DMK government on various front but also to send across a message that it was now in the “pole position” to take on the ruling party than the AIADMK as the 2024 Lok Sabha polls approach.

While the DMK hasn’t publicly objected to the “outreach” of Union Ministers by the BJP, AIADMK deputy general secretary K P Munusamy, sensing the visits could hurt the party, has said Union Ministers visiting the state frequently to “review” projects does not bode well for federalism.

The BJP leader quoted first said the venue for the visits of the ministers are chosen carefully as the message the party intends to send is that the BJP cares for the rural masses as much as it does for the urban populace.

“For instance, Ariyalur and Perambalur are not the places that Union Ministers visit normally. But our ministers have gone there. The ministers interact with beneficiaries and tell them that the scheme they get benefitted from is funded by the Centre. This will help us in the long run,” the leader added.