Tamil Nadu, Kerala & Karnataka: BJP’s Grand Plan To Crack The South Indian Puzzle Set In Movement – News18
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Whereas coming back from Sri Lanka, PM Narendra Modi made time to go to the well-known Ramanatha Swamy temple in Rameshwaram on Rama Navami. He wore the normal ‘veshti’ (dhoti), shirt, and ‘angavastram’ (worn across the neck).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi gives prayers on the Ramanathaswamy Temple, in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. (Picture: PMO India)
On Sunday, whereas coming back from Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended an occasion in Tamil Nadu. Amidst a packed schedule, he made time to go to the well-known Ramanatha Swamy temple in Rameshwaram on Rama Navami. He wore the normal ‘veshti’ (dhoti), shirt, and ‘angavastram’ (worn across the neck). The selection of apparel is seen as a part of BJP’s strategic effort to strengthen its presence in Southern India – a area the place the celebration has struggled to realize a powerful foothold.
South India, which incorporates Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, contributes 129 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats. This makes the area essential for the BJP to realize its nationwide objectives, corresponding to securing a supermajority in Parliament. At the moment, the BJP solely has a minor foothold in Andhra Pradesh, the place it’s a junior companion to the TDP together with Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Get together. In Karnataka, the BJP has had governing alternatives however is presently an opposition celebration going through inside conflicts.
For the primary time, the BJP has launched a multi-pronged strategy to make important electoral beneficial properties throughout all South Indian states, with a targeted goal on profitable Karnataka, the place it believes it has the strongest probability.
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu has been significantly difficult for the BJP to penetrate. On Rama Navami, Prime Minister Modi visited the state and inaugurated the brand new Pamban rail bridge in Rameswaram. This bridge, constructed at a value of Rs 531 crore over the Palk Strait, is India’s first vertical carry sea bridge and connects Rameswaram Island with Ramanathapuram on the mainland. Modi additionally initiated the enlargement of Nationwide Freeway 40 right into a four-lane street stretching from Walajahpet close to Chennai to the Andhra Pradesh border and inaugurated three different freeway tasks in Tamil Nadu which were upgraded to 4 lanes.
Carrying the Veshti and angavastram symbolised Modi’s effort to attraction to Tamil sentiments. This go to to the Ramanatha Swamy temple was his second in simply over a yr. He had beforehand visited the temple final yr earlier than the Pran Pratishta of the Sri Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Forward of a full organisational change, BJP’s state president Ok Annamalai resigned who’s learnt to have requested by the celebration to step down. It was seen as a strategic transfer to probably re-align with its former ally AIADMK. In March, AIADMK chief Edappadi Ok Palaniswami met with Amit Shah in Delhi. Shah is scheduled to go to Chennai for 2 days this month, the place he’ll possible meet with Palaniswami once more to finalise an alliance forward of the following election.
Kerala
In Kerala, the place the BJP has traditionally struggled, the celebration achieved a milestone within the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by securing its first-ever MP from the state – Suresh Gopi from Thrissur. Gopi, a preferred Malayalam movie actor-turned-politician, drove the victory. Nonetheless, his celeb standing alone didn’t safe the win. The BJP modified its methods, tempering its Hindutva picture and reaching out to the Christian neighborhood.
One key problem was ‘love jihad,’ initially raised by Church authorities in Kerala. The BJP strongly supported the Church on this matter. The Waqf Modification Invoice additionally offered widespread floor between the 2. Former Union Minister KJ Alphonse and MP Suresh Gopi had been concerned in efforts to make clear any misunderstandings in regards to the Invoice. The Munambam land dispute in Ernakulam district was a focus, the place the Kerala State Waqf Board claimed possession of round 400 acres of land affecting over 600 households, primarily Christians and a few Hindus. The BJP aligned with the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) on this problem, prompting many Munambam residents to hitch the BJP as a gesture of gratitude.
The BJP’s toned-down Hindutva messaging turned evident when the Kerala BJP suspended an area chief who referred to as for a authorized ban on a controversial movie. In contrast to its hardline stance on the 2002 Godhra assault, the BJP maintained that the movie needs to be seen as only a movie.
Karnataka
Karnataka is presently probably the most important goal for the BJP amongst southern states. The celebration believes it might probably leverage anti-incumbency sentiments created by controversial choices such because the 4 per cent Muslim Reservation and monetary strikes like climbing milk costs and imposing a rubbish tax in Bangalore.
The RSS have held its prime assembly whereas the BJP is more likely to maintain its personal in Bengaluru inside a month. The RSS carried out a three-day assembly of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, its highest decision-making physique, beginning March 21.
“Hindu awakening” was a key agenda level, coinciding with the Congress authorities’s introduction of reservations for Muslims. Prime RSS leaders, together with Mohan Bhagwat and Dattatreya Hosabale, had been current.
The BJP can also be more likely to maintain its Nationwide Govt Assembly in Bengaluru beginning April 18.
Regardless of current setbacks corresponding to expelling highly effective MLA Basanagouda Patil R Yatnal, who’s now contemplating launching a regional celebration, the celebration stays assured citing the BJP-JD(S) alliance which secured a 51.5 per cent vote share in opposition to Congress’s 45.4 per cent within the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP additionally received by-elections like Channapatna in 2024.
The Lingayats, who comprise about 17 per cent of Karnataka’s inhabitants, have historically supported the BJP. Regardless of some drift in the direction of Congress in 2023, the BJP is leveraging Yediyurappa’s affect to retain this vote financial institution. Following the organizational reshuffle, sources recommend that Karnataka’s celebration president, Vijayendra, a Lingayat, will stay unchanged.
With its organisational power and Modi’s nationwide attraction, the BJP has set its sights on a comeback within the Karnataka meeting, beginning its Mission 2028 early.
