AdvertisementFive years ago too, Theni was the only seat not won by the DMK and its allies.
The victor was then AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam’s son; Panneerselvam too is now part of the BJP alliance along with the AMMK.
Dhinakaran himself has represented the seat (which was at the time called Periyakulam) once, from 1999 to 2004.
Dhinakaran and Tamilsevan have another thing in common: both belong to the powerful Thevar OBC group, specifically the Mukulathor community.
Let the DMK talk against the BJP and RSS, but why against Hinduism?
IT HAS been a long, hard ride for T T V Dhinakaran since the death of J Jayalalithaa in 2016 – first leaving him and his aunt V K Sasikala in the political wilderness, then landing him in the Centre’s cross-hairs and inside Tihar Jail, and now returning him into the fold of a BJP-led alliance in Tamil Nadu.
However, as the AMMK (Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam) leader campaigns in this seat, an AIADMK bastion that has elected many of its stalwarts, those seven-plus years seem to fall away.
Dhinakaran’s vehicle is stopped at regular intervals by people seeking to speak to him, leaving him overwhelmed. It is clear that the 60-year-old, once Jayalalithaa’s blue-eyed boy in the AIADMK, poses the tallest challenge to the ruling DMK-led alliance’s ambition of repeating its sweep of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu, come April 19 voting day.
Advertisement
Five years ago too, Theni was the only seat not won by the DMK and its allies. The victor was then AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam’s son; Panneerselvam too is now part of the BJP alliance along with the AMMK.
Dhinakaran himself has represented the seat (which was at the time called Periyakulam) once, from 1999 to 2004.
Facing Dhinakaran from the DMK corner is one of his former close aides, Thanga Tamilselvan, who is banking on the DMK and allies’ expectation of a 40% cumulative vote share. In 2001, Tamilselvan had won from the Andipatti Assembly segment within the Theni seat – won in the past by AIADMK heavyweights M G Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa. Tamilsevan had later vacated Andipatti for Jayalalithaa, earning his place in AIADMK lore, though he is now fighting on the DMK ticket.
Dhinakaran and Tamilsevan have another thing in common: both belong to the powerful Thevar OBC group, specifically the Mukulathor community.
Advertisement
In contrast to them, the AIADMK candidate, V T Narayanasamy, is seen as weak, But this could be a plus for Dhinakaran, helping him consolidate the anti-DMK vote behind him.
Speaking to The Indian Express while on a campaign blitz of 40 km through Theni, Dhinakaran acknowledges how things have changed from the last time he was in the race for the seat. “People mistook me for Jayalalithaa’s son. Old women would ask me why I was ‘dark’, unlike Jayalalithaa… I would have to clarify that I am not her son, but like a son. Many faces from that time are still here, though in the Edappadi K Palaniswami-led AIADMK.”
One of those acquaintances dropped in to meet him last week, he says, adding that this showed the kind of politics he believed in. “My past tenure here was marked by my neutral approach, treating everyone equally, beyond caste and political lines… It is helping me reach the local community even now.”
Asked about his new-found love for the BJP, after the cases against him by the Centre and arrest, Dhinakaran says: “In 1976, the DMK government had been dismissed by then PM Indira Gandhi… The DMK organised protests, said the most unfair things about her, including her widow status… But in the 1980s, the same Karunanidhi welcomed her as ‘the great daughter of Nehru’. So, that is how politics goes.”
Advertisement
Claiming that he knew only what he had read in news reports about the BJP “targeting” him, Dhinakaran says: “It was the BJP that approached me in 2021 and invited me into their alliance. They were very friendly to me. All my cases are still in court… maybe they were behind it, I am not saying they were not. But is there any proof to say that they targeted me?”
Asked whether he sees the BJP on an upswing in a state where it has little presence, Dhinakran says it is the DMK that is to blame. “Their leaders, who are also Hindus, talk about Hinduism in a very careless manner. Ordinary Hindu believers wonder why the DMK and its associates are unnecessarily targeting Hindus. Let the DMK talk against the BJP and RSS, but why against Hinduism? (Chief Minister) M K Stalin issues greetings for religious festivals, but not Diwali. Why?”
He adds that the DMK has turned Hindus away from the party with its actions. “The DMK forgets that nothing can be imposed in Tamil Nadu. Their attacks on the BJP are excessive and flawed. They end up targeting not Hindutva but Hinduism itself. Why do you have to talk ill about a religion? I am a Hindu… They talk ill about Sanatan Dharma. I don’t know what it is… a text that was probably written 2,000 or 3,000 years back is being targeted now… Do they think that being secular is all about talking against Hinduism? This is the key factor that is helping the BJP here… It is a fact that they are growing.”
Also Read | In Tamil Nadu, BJP rides on stormy petrel Annamalai in bid to disrupt Dravidian play
On Sasikala’s plans, Dhinakaran says she is happier remaining behind the scenes for now, dodging a question on whether a political comeback was on the cards. “She never interferes in my political work, she knows that I am experienced, and I will do the correct thing,” he says.
Advertisement
Could her taking a back seat have to do with the cases against her in courts? Dhinakaran vehemently denies this. “Only courts decide such matters. Don’t club personal and legal things with my BJP alliance.”
Admitting the adversities he faced in the period following Jayalalithaa’s demise, Dhinakaran says he is a big believer in dynasty. “Only the Almighty can lead us. I never thought I would come into politics, or start a party; never thought I would contest against our leader’s own party in R K Nagar (referring to contesting against the AIADMK candidate from the seat left vacant after Jayalalithaa’s demise); never thought I would win. Recently, I never thought I would make a comeback. It is all destiny.”
So does that destiny include “recapturing the AIADMK” some time in the future? Dhinakaran does not rule that out, but says that if he does so, “it will be for AIADMK cadres like OPS (O Panneerselvam, who lost control of the party to Palaniswami)”. “I don’t plan to capture it for myself. After all, I started my own party with my leader’s (Jayalalithaa’s) photo in the flag. How can I abandon that flag? She was like my mother… If I merge with the AIADMK, my flag will cease. But if we recapture it, we can be part of an alliance.”
