Does The BJP Wish To Flirt With Tamil Nationalism?

The first month of this year saw something unusual in Tamil Nadu politics—Dravidian ideologue E V Ramasamy being subjected to intense criticism from Seeman, a Tamil nationalist politician, who leads the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK). 

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit in the state instantly lapped it up as Ramasamy is someone they do not like. Supporters of the BJP were quite pleased with the development and amplified Seeman’s remarks. Tamilisai Soundararajan, a former state president, went to the extent of calling Seeman their ‘theme partner’. 

Around the same time, the BJP took the decision to not contest the by-poll to the Erode East assembly constituency, leaving the NTK as the only opposition party in the fray against the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). 

Coming amid the constant chatter about likely alignments for the 2026 assembly polls, these developments naturally set off rumours of the NTK and BJP cosying up to each other.

While politics can make strange bedfellows, Seeman was not seen as alliance material because his ideology—Tamil nationalism and support for slain Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Prabhakaran, among others—was not in tune with BJP’s ideals of Hindutva and nationalism.

The BJP-esque criticism of EVR notwithstanding, differences remain.

After the recent death of S. A. Basha—the terrorist responsible for the 1998 serial blasts in Coimbatore—Seeman praised him and called him his 'father'. More recently, during the row over animal sacrifice at the Sikandar Dargah in Thiruparankundram—one of Lord Muruga’s six holy abodes in the state, he said that the hill belongs to both Lord Muruga and Sikandar. 

Therefore, except for their opposition to the DMK, there is hardly anything in common between them. But talk of a possible alliance between the two has refused to die down. The reason it is not being actively discussed now is because the political class and media is busy with the issue of the alleged imposition of Hindi in the state.

So even though only time can tell us if the two would come together, what we bring to you in this piece is a comprehensive look at Seeman, why he is going after Ramasamy.

But first things first, why is Seeman—often dismissed as a ‘clown’ by his critics, to be taken seriously? Isn't his party a minor player in the state’s politics that always finishes third or fourth? 

It is indeed true that the NTK is far behind the Dravidian majors—DMK and AIADMK—and has never won an assembly seat (despite being in the political arena for more than a decade now), but two reasons make it a player worth examining. 

The first is that the party has consistently managed to eke out a vote share of 6-8 per cent in the last two elections, so much so that it has now got recognition from the Election Commission as a state party. 

Next is that a major chunk of the party’s voters are youngsters, and their support is across caste and region lines. “It enjoys a very secular vote share throughout the state", says political commentator and psephologist JVC Sreeram. He however adds that a lot of that support is fleeting, i.e. these people vote for Seeman only once or twice, not more than that. 

It is this pan-state presence that makes its vote share that much more valuable and also gives it the ability to influence election results in tight contests.

To illustrate this point, political commentator Rajavel Nagarajan, who runs the Tamil YouTube channel, Pesu Tamizha Pesu, gave the example of the 2016 Assembly election, “The difference in vote share of the two major alliances at that time was about 1 per cent, and the NTK secured that.”

What's In It For Seeman—Threat To His Base Is Making Him Go After EVR

As mentioned before, the youth is Seeman’s primary base. But unlike before, he cannot take them for granted because there is competition in the form of actor Vijay—whose star power is likely to draw away a large chunk of them. That leaves Seeman in a tricky position, with the risk of being relegated to the margins of state politics, right after the high of 2024. He seems to have realised that the only way for him to maintain his relevance and have a shot at power is through an alliance.

According to political commentators, it is this fear of a shrinking base which is pushing him to take on Ramasamy and attract the section of voters who dislike him, which is primarily BJP supporters, so that he could tie up with them in future. Others say it was a limited experiment for the Erode East bypoll that was held on 5 February.

Nagarajan adds that it is also a ploy to remain at the centre of attention. “After the entry of Annamalai, who meets the press almost daily, Seeman’s media presence has reduced considerably. Vijay’s arrival has exacerbated the problem for him,” he said.

While it is difficult to conclude as to how much of an effect did his statements have on the minds of people, it could have played a part in convincing some of them to support his party in the bypoll, where the NTK secured a vote share of 15.59 per cent (double of its usual vote share) in the absence of the AIADMK and the BJP.

Alliance With NTK Not Going To Be Easy For BJP

As a party with 6-8 per cent vote share that can go over 10 per cent in some areas (such as the Delta region in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections) the NTK is not going to settle for a small number of seats. So, on the one hand, the BJP will have to accommodate its demands, and on the other it has to make sure that its existing allies like the Pattali Makkal Katchi are not left unhappy.

Next, the vote bank of both the parties is different. A Seeman voter is usually someone who does not like any other party. So, the question that remains is whether they will transfer their votes to BJP or will their Tamil nationalism come in the way of them voting for what they consider to be a ‘north-Indian’ party?

Further, the BJP enjoys significant support amongst linguistic minorities (mainly Telugu speakers) who have been in the state since the times of the Vijayanagara empire. They could be put off by Seeman, who has made a number of anti-Telugu statements in the past.

These Telugus do not see themselves as any less Tamil than the average NTK supporter and contend that their communities have also produced Tamil nationalists such as V Gopalsamy (popularly known as ‘Vaiko’), who like Seeman, had travelled to Sri Lanka and met Prabhakaran. Another such leader is Kovai Ramakrishnan of the Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhagam, who is known to have given shelter to LTTE cadre.

Does Tamil Nationalism Still Draw Votes?

A decade and a half since the end of the war in Lanka, the killing of Tamils is not spoken about as often as it was during the immediate aftermath. That leaves us with the question—how is Seeman’s vote share growing when one of the major planks on which his party came up is no longer a poll issue. 

The answer to this lies in what Nagarajan terms as the rise of ‘hate nationalism’ under Seeman. “He started speaking of Tamil nationalism in Tamil pride terms, owning whatever was existing in Tamil culture like Lord Muruga, Raja Raja Chola, and the Brihadeesvara temple in Thanjavur. He referred to them ‘my ‘tata’ or ‘muppatan’ (grandfather or great-grandfather). 

“At the same time, he started creating unnecessary fear amongst people over migrant workers from northern states and carved out a vote bank. These are all issues which the DMK and AIADMK were not touching upon. He started filling a void that had been left by other parties, which spent most of their campaigns accusing each other of corruption in their hunger to capture power.”

A political commentator who did not wish to be named said, “Actually, the NTK should be derecognised due to its hate politics. If that happens at least 10 lakh of the 30 lakh odd votes it secured would come to the BJP. This is because all those votes are anti-DMK votes. Plus, they are not atheists.

"Every year, NTK party members put up posters for occasions like Thaipoosam and Krishna Jayanti. They have Tamil pride and maybe some caste pride. So, if BJP is able to take some of the good things of Seeman, i.e. pride in Raja Raja Chola, Tamil heritage etc they will be able to tap into his base.

“They must also highlight the work done by the Modi government for Sri Lankan Tamils, such as the construction of houses, and tell them that if there is anyone who can do something for the Tamils there, it is the BJP because it is in power and not Seeman.”

He added that the BJP should put have put Seeman in a spot when it came to the Tiruparankundram issue and said that he should have been asked to choose between Lord Muruga and Sikandar and not try to balance both. "After all, it was he who had said that Lord Muruga is his grandfather."

What’s in it for the BJP?

While there are multiple problems, as mentioned above, the 2026 assembly election is not going to be like the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP got a vote share of around 11 per cent then, and aims for more in 2026 but it is not going to be easy to achieve that because of the changed circumstances.

The AIADMK did not put too much effort in 2024, but in 2026, they are likely to put up a good fight as it is the state election that matters more to them. Vijay is as much of a threat to the BJP as he is to Seeman as he can take away some of the youth vote and women’s vote that would have otherwise come to the party due to Annamalai.

With an AIADMK-BJP alliance not sure, BJP’s best bet is to enter the fray with a strong coalition of its own. Arithmetically, NTK will be a good addition to the PMK. Together, the three parties can cross 20 per cent vote share and win some seats. In places like Coimbatore, NTK’s contribution will be a boost to BJP, which finished second.

It might therefore be a gamble that the BJP takes to achieve the larger goal of defeating the DMK. The party has had alliances across ideological lines—such as in Jammu & Kashmir and with the DMK during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure as prime minister. But most BJP supporters are wary of such an experiment and say that they would be extremely surprised if the party chooses to go down that path.