BJP’s ‘Bye Bye Pandia’ ads leave a bad taste, hit Tamil Nadu BJP unit hard in Dravidian land

CHENNAI: The BJP Odisha unit’s advertisements targeting Tamil Nadu-born BJD leader VK Pandian has come under sharp criticism from political parties and netizens here in Tamil Nadu, who flayed the saffron party and its State unit chief K Annamalai for demeaning the culture and food habits of Tamils.

A series of advertisements that the BJP issued during its campaign ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly election in Odisha carried the tagline 'Bye Bye Pandia’. The target of the attack was BJD chief and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's close aide and former bureaucrat VK Pandian. A native of Madurai, the 2000 batch IAS officer took voluntary retirement late last year and joined BJD, and has since been touted as Patnaik’s political heir.

In one of the advertisements, the actor playing Pandian’s character terms the traditional Odiya dish Chakuli Pitha as Dosai, a not-so-indirect reference to his Tamil roots. In another advertisement, the character is trying to eat Palaya Satham, a fermented rice dish popular in the State, after pouring it on a banana leaf. Yet another portrayed Tamils as corrupt and shows the character chasing away contractors from Odisha and handing over the works to contractors from Tamil Nadu.

These advertisements were released soon after senior BJP leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, focussing their fire on Pandian during their election campaign. Campaigning in Odisha, Modi alleged that the missing keys of Puri Jagannath temple’s treasury were taken to Tamil Nadu, while Shah vowed that the BJP would not allow a Tamil to rule Odisha.

Taking on the former ally over the “distasteful” advertisements, senior AIADMK leader and party spokesperson D Jayakumar took to social media to register his strong condemnation for allegedly demeaning the entire Tamil race. "If BJP boasts the One Nation slogan, why does it fear seeing VK Pandian?"

Terming the campaign videos distasteful, Jayakumar said the BJP disrespected the entire Tamil race. "The BJP looks at a person through the sectarian lens, to divide him based on his language, race and religion," he said, adding that the saffron leaders spewed venom to stop a Tamil from flourishing in Odisha.

Congress functionary Lakshmi Ramachandran also took to social media and demanded State BJP chief Annamalai to tender an apology for the videos. "It is one thing to attack and criticise your political opponent. But mocking the entire Tamil community, our culture, our food, our practices, our clothes just goes to show the deep-rooted anti-Tamil sentiment of the BJP leadership," she said.

Incidentally, even BJP functionaries are unhappy about the advertisements, grumbling about how they have put them in a spot of bother in Tamil Nadu.