Good governance trumps Tamil Nadu’s caste dynamics?

Caste was one big casualty of the just-concluded urban local body polls. In decimating the AIADMK-led opposition in areas where the party had fared poorly in the past couple of decades, the DMK also busted the myth that a few numerically dominant castes in western and southern Tamil Nadu were traditionally inclined towards the AIADMK.

Barring Orathanadu town panchayat in Thanjavur, where TTV Dinakaran’s AMMK edged past the DMK and AIADMK alike, the overwhelming performance of Stalin’s DMK across the State demonstrated that caste dynamics was no match to good governance and social justice ideology in the electoral scheme of things.

The literal sweep in Coimbatore, Erode and Salem has proven that loyalty of Gounders, a numerically dominant intermediate caste, leaders from which are aplenty and wield enormous influence in AIADMK, has helped the DMK break what was privately bragged about by AIADMK regional strongmen as caste jinx, as it did in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections (DMK won all MP seats there).

In the same vein, the DMK juggernaut in Dharmapuri district, considered a Vanniyar bastion, is also testimony to Stalin’s governance outweighing caste loyalty. That the DMK managed to capture Dharmapuri municipality after 21 years, that too by forcing forfeiture of election deposit for PMK in 24 of the 30 wards it contested, is a valid case in point. Winning all 10 town panchayats in PMK’s own backyard is no cakewalk even by contemporary political standards. The scenario was no different in Villupuram, Cuddalore and Tiruvannamalai districts, all so-called Vanniyar strongholds in the north, either.

The triumph of ideology and development over caste was there to see even in far off Theni and Madurai in the south too. Considered Mukkulathor bastions in the south, Madurai and its suburbs like Usilampatti and neighbouring Theni district (native of O Panneerselvam), also saw the DMK flex its muscles.

A DMK senior unwilling to be quoted admitted to the party suffering defeats in the past in the same areas despite fielding candidates from majority communities and said the dynamics have changed. “We saw a seismic shift in the people’s mindset during the campaign. CM’s image and reputation of the government preceded all other factors,” said a DMK senior from the region, unwilling to be quoted.

“The very idea that Tamils voted on the basis of caste was a myth. The election results have confirmed that Tamil Nadu people never did. It is proof that the entire state has recognised good governance and endorsed the social justice and transparent all-inclusive governance of Stalin,” said writer and DMK spokesperson Manushyaputhiran.