BJP filling Hindutva void created by Jayalalithaas demise, Claims Annamalai

The BJP's presence in Tamil Nadu politics is expanding in the wake of the void left by the demise of AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa, who, according to BJP's state chief K Annamalai, was a prominent figure in the realm of Hindutva leadership. Annamalai exuded confidence that the BJP would win a double-digit vote share in Tamil Nadu in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections and emerge as a formidable player in the political landscape.

Annamalai, a politician who has been a former IPS officer, asserted his resolve to make the BJP a force to reckon with in Tamil Nadu and said the opportunity arose with the perceived deviation of the AIADMK from the Hindutva ideology after Jayalalithaa's demise.

"Now, if you look at it, sir, till Jayalalithaaji was alive, she was a far superior Hindutva leader than anybody in Tamil Nadu. Pre-2014, when you have a party like the BJP and Jayalalithaa as a leader … the natural choice of a Hindu voter would be Jayalalithaa, who displayed her Hindu identity openly," Annamalai said.

Looking at Jayalalithaa's legacy, Annamalai mentioned that she actively supported the Hindu causes of building a Ram temple in Ayodhya and implementing an anti-conversion law in Tamil Nadu during her tenure. He underlined her contributions to Hinduism, which went into generous donations for temples, electoral campaigns around Hindu identity, and programs for temple rejuvenation.

"The anti-conversion act, a person who donated liberally to temples, contested elections from Srirangam, took efforts to revive the temple in a big way, and gifted elephants to all the major temples. If you look at her activities as a person, she was a far superior Hindu leader," Annamalai said.

"For the very first time in Tamil Nadu, if Hindus as a group are looking for a party who will protect my temple, naturally it is the BJP. Because, now, the AIADMK has deviated far, far away from who Jayalalithaa was as a person," Annamalai said.

Annamalai lamented how AIADMK had drifted away from Jayalalithaa's brand of Hindutva, with its alignments with the Social Democratic Party of India and others, which have links to the banned Islamist outfit Popular Front of India.

However, Annamalai said that the BJP's appeal had gone beyond the Hindu voters, saying that the party was very broad-based in fielding its candidates from the minority communities in the last Lok Sabha polls.

He said the BJP's growth in Tamil Nadu was because of two reasons: one, the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from 2014 onwards, and two, because of the political vacuum created by the death of Jayalalithaa. Annamalai said that the BJP would emerge as the third major party in Tamil Nadu after the Lok Sabha elections, making inroads into the traditionally bipolar politics dominated by regional parties like the DMK and AIADMK.

Annamalai said that a series of initiatives, starting with Prime Minister Modi's repeated visits to the State, cultural events such as the Kashi Tamil Sangam, and symbolic gestures like putting the Sengol in the new Parliament building, were among the reasons for the BJP's good showing in the State. He also pointed to the historical links between Tamil Nadu and Gujarat due to the Saurashtrian community and said that this has played a role in the BJP reaching out to the state. He is optimistic in looking at the future: "We are hopeful of making big gains in the southern States, especially in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh." He also exuded confidence in a "historic mandate" for the BJP and its allies in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.