‘Muslim Card’: AIADMK Will Remain Custodian Of Muslims In Tamil Nadu
By
Syed Ali Mujtaba, New Age Islam
15 March
2024
The All
India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has reiterated that the AIADMK will remain
the custodian of Muslims in Tamil Nadu, said party general secretary Edappadi K
Palaniswami here on Wednesday.
Addressing
an ‘Iftar’ function, organized by his party, Palaniswami, recalled the services
rendered by the former Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha and said that the iconic
leader of the AIADMK had always stood for the welfare of the Muslims and this
policy will continue under him.
The former
Chief Minister also recalled that it was Jayalalitha who had first proposed the
name of APJ Abdul Kalam for the post of President of India.
Edappadi K
Palaniswami, who became the general secretary of the AIADMK, after the death of
party supremo, J Jayalalithaa and allied with the BJP in 2017, a move that saw
the erosion of Muslim support for the AIADMK.
The AIADMK,
after ending its ties with the BJP in September 2023, is trying to resurrect
the party from scratch. To regain the
lost ground, the AIADMK is now playing the ‘Muslim card’ vociferously which
constitutes about 6% of the votes in Tamil Nadu.
When asked
about his party’s stand on the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA), the law on Triple
Talaq, and the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Palaniswami said, “Our stand on these
issues is explained clearly in our election manifesto of 2019. We are opposed
to them as AIADMK is concerned over its long-term impact on the society.”
Palaniswami
also announced that the AIADMK will not form an electoral alliance with any of
the national parties in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He also dismissed the rumour that the third
front led by the BJP may hurt the electoral prospects of the AIADMK-led
front. He said, the talks with the DMDK
and PMK are in the final stages and the details of it will be made public at an
appropriate time.
Tamil Nadu
politics since 1916 has revolved around the Dravidian plank initiated by the
Justice Party. This party rose into prominence in Tamil Nadu in opposition to
Sanatan Dharma, Brahminical domination besides a host of other such things. The
legacy of the Justice party is carried forward by the Dravidian parties
including DMK, AIADMK, DMDK, and other such political parties.
In recent
years the BJP under the leadership of Narendra Modi has made an exorbitant use
of money power to make a dent in Tamil Nadu. With the Governor leading the
Hindutva bandwagon, and BJP leader K Annamalai, an ex-IPS officer leading the
party from the front some unexpected development is expected in Tamil Nadu.
This is said because there is crass use of money power is on display. A huge
sum is spent on advertisements, billboards, and hoardings everywhere in the
state, giving a semblance of appearance that the BJP is all set to dent the
Dravidian fort.
However,
the Mega Opinion Poll conducted by Network18 has predicted that the DMK will
lead the INDIA bloc to an impressive haul of 30 seats and may get a 51% vote
share. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) may get 5 seats with a
net vote share of 13%, while the AIADMK and allies will pick up 4 seats, and
get around 17% of the votes share.
The prediction
of 5 seats given the Network18, seems to be doubtful. The picture on the ground
zero is that the BJP has a contest on only two seats in Tamil Nadu, Kanyakumari
and Vellore. It is likely it can be victorious on these two seats, maybe one,
even may go blank, provided the contest is evenly fought.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in
Chennai.
URL: https://newageislam.com/current-affairs/muslim-card-aiadmk-custodian-muslims-tamil-nadu/d/131925
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