BJP in Tamil Nadu

[Saffron Lenin]

Annamalai recently claims that BJP can win 25 LS seats in TN in 2024 elections (which seems ludicrous to me). The recent India tv-CNX opinion poll predicts 0 seats for BJP in TN.
Is there anyone from TN who can tell what is the ground situation in TN? Can BJP open its account in 2024 Lok Sabha election in TN?

[suresh]

Is there anyone from TN who can tell what is the ground situation in TN? Can BJP open its account in 2024 Lok Sabha election in TN?

0 is probably a good starting point. Double digits will need one to be smoking something illegal.

[Atithee]

I’m clueless on this matter but surprised at the bleak prospect. Actually, no prospect at all. Main reasons? Hindi language imposition, water dispute with neighboring states ruled by BJP, charismatic state leadership, political hatred of anything from north, anti Modi/Hindutava/Imcumbency? Just random guesses on my part. Is Congress or DMK (or is it AIDMK) the front-runner? Sorry for my ignorance.

[vidhyashankar]

Nothing much has changed since the last state elections in 2021. But this is Central Elections and people have different preferences for state and central. It is not easy to change people's mind soon. May be by the next state elections, BJP might become a force to reckon with.

[Saffron Lenin]

Why is DMK so popular? Did they something very good in their tenure?

[srini]

Regional parties have been good in general for development at least for southern states (YSR Cong is an exception).

Just to give an example, TRS gov in Telangana has developed a 21 Km cycling track which is about to complete in a month(just in time for elections in Dec



For all the promise of double engine sarkars, BJP has done little in the states it was in power. In Karnataka the infra probably got worse during the BJP reign. So i would say easy choice for voters to vote a regional party if they want development. In Tamil Nadu Modi has been putting extra focus and is trying to fill the void "Amma" has left in AIADMK. He has met Xin Ping in TN in a dhoti attire, used Chola Sengol and what not in all his theatrics, but i think there won't be any takers in TN...just not yet.

[Saffron Lenin]

Regional parties have been good in general for development at least for southern states (YSR Cong is an exception).

Just to give an example, TRS gov in Telangana has developed a 21 Km cycling track which is about to complete in a month(just in time for elections in Dec



For all the promise of double engine sarkars, BJP has done little in the states it was in power. In Karnataka the infra probably got worse during the BJP reign. So i would say easy choice for voters to vote a regional party if they want development. In Tamil Nadu Modi has been putting extra focus and is trying to fill the void "Amma" has left in AIADMK. He has met Xin Ping in TN in a dhoti attire, used Chola Sengol and what not in all his theatrics, but i think there won't be any takers in TN...just not yet.

There is a conspiracy theory I heard which I don't know is true or not? Kindly give your opinion on this....
This goes like this......" Most of dravidians think that Tamil Nadu is a state under-occupation of Indian federation (just like Kashmir or Nagaland). Dravidian ideology is against Hinduism and considers Hinduism its biggest enemy ( just like Pakistan's Islamic ideology considers Hinduism its biggest enemy). They resents Indian state influence on their state and consider it a threat on their dravidian identity. This also explains why there is no buyer of Hindu-right wing party BJP in the state"

[srini]

Not really...probably only small fraction of extremists like Tamil Eelam separatists (who were sympathizers of former LTTE) would think that way. I think we need to separate out Dravidian movement from the Dravidians (like Jay or myself). Dravidian movement was started by Periyar as a social movement to end the caste differences. You would notice less caste influence on voting patterns in Tamilnadu. Dravidian movement in principal is not so much against Hinduism but more against Brahmanical domination. Actually if all Dravidians were against Hinduism, then it should have disappeared in that state right? But proportion of Hindus in TN is about 85% and more than many of the northern states where Islam also has sizeable population due to Mughal influence. Bhakti movement in India during medieval period originated in current Tamilnadu, Kerala states during a time when other religions like Buddhism, Jainism, Islam and Christianity were gaining ground and helped in Hinduism's survival by reforming some Hindu practices. Hindu-right wing party like BJP has no buyers in TN probably because Hindus in that state don't feel threatened by the existence of other religions as happens in north India.