Tamil Nadu: Annamalai-Palaniswami Showdown Is Also About Courting Kongu Vellalar Gounder Community Votes

The recent verbal duel between Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS), the general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)  and K Annamalai, the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has garnered a lot of attention.

Annamalai had gone to the extent of saying that he did not need advice from an ‘illiterate’ like EPS who had come to power by being the ‘highest bidder’ and ran the party on a ‘tender allotment system’. 

These remarks were made during a speech in Chennai where he criticised both the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the AIADMK.

While the immediate trigger was likely to have been the speculation about an alliance between the DMK and the BJP (which was pushed forth very strongly by AIADMK) after the ceremony to release a commemorative coin for former chief minister M Karunanidhi, it does not explain the rather harsh language used for EPS. 

Parties Had Been Trading Insults For A Year

The answer to that lies in the happenings over the past one year. AIADMK leaders like the party’s organising secretary D Jayakumar and EPS have been criticising Annamalai by saying things like he doesn’t know politics or that he is a ‘clown’, and he is just a manager for a national party’s state unit, while their leader is someone who has risen from the grassroots, since the time the alliance between the two parties started breaking down. 

Both DMK and AIADMK members often refer to him as ‘Aadu’ (goat) while criticising or making fun of him. The reference started after Annamalai spoke about how rearing goats was important for his family’s survival. 

Annamalai too used to respond to these criticisms in ways he thought fit at the time. After the Lok Sabha election results, he took a swipe at Jayakumar and questioned his abilities as his son, Dr Jayavardhan finished third in Chennai South and lost his deposit. 

The BJP too has its fair share of names like ‘Aadimai’ (slaves) to mock and criticise AIADMK leaders and members.

The latest episode, however, seems to have broken the last straw on the camel’s back.

While what happened over the last year explains the outburst, there is one question that still remains unanswered and that is what could be making EPS and his party target Annamalai, when it should ideally be taking on the DMK, which is ruling the state.

This is where the role of their caste comes into play. Both belong to the Kongu Vellalar Gounder (KVG) community, a socio-politically dominant OBC (Other Backward Class) group, whose population is concentrated in the Kongu region in western Tamil Nadu. 

While EPS is the tallest political leader of the community at present by virtue of being a former chief minister and the head of the AIADMK, according to political commentators, he perceives Annamalai as a threat. 

The rise of Annamalai, a leader from the same community and a nearby district, who is likely to grab a substantial chunk of the community votes is not good for EPS. Strong support from his caste is key to his future as the leader of the party and hope to become the next chief minister. 

The AIADMK is now heavily dependent on the Gounder vote, as the split has led to the loss of votes from the Thevar community, the other major support base of the party. 

While Annamalai may not be explicitly looking for the caste vote, as he has a voter base cutting across communities, getting to position himself as an important KVG leader is helpful for him as well as the party. The BJP’s strongholds too incidentally lie in the Kongu region, like the AIADMK.

Though the AIADMK keeps downplaying the achievements of the BJP by saying that the party could not win a single seat, the fact that the AIADMK was pushed to the third or fourth position and lost its deposit in some seats is enough proof, that Annamalai means business. 

This is what seems to be making EPS and his AIADMK colleagues attack Annamalai relentlessly.

And as for Annamalai, who has an aggressive brand of politics, giving it back in equal measure, is not something that he would shy away from.

While this has the potential to put off some people, it could also show to the community that he has the wherewithal to take on anyone, ie, DMK or AIADMK.