BJP flexes muscle in state, looks for pre-2016 boost - Times of India

CHENNAI: With a BJP government in power at the Centre, the party and its allies organisations have been flexing their muscle across the country. This was manifested in Tamil Nadu on Sunday when its ideological parent body RSS took out route marches across the state to showcase its nationalistic spirit and emphasise its presence. The spin given by the RSS was the celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of the accession to the throne by 11th century king Rajendra Chola. But very few would be taken in by this millennium logic as this has been widely perceived in political circles as a thinly disguised tactic for an emotional connect to gain acceptance in the Dravidian heartland.

After RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's Dussehra address was broadcast live on All India Radio last month raising the hackles of the opposition parties, route marches like this in Tamil Nadu or elsewhere may tend to trigger alarm over what may appear as a fascist manifestation of power, say a section of observers.

"The ruling AIADMK government has not permitted RSS route marches in the state for the past three years after the Chennai police act was amended to take preventive measures against anti-national outfits, but we have been reiterating that we are a nationalistic organisation taking out marches in our uniform since 1925,"said senior BJP leader L Ganesan who was arrested in Madurai as he led the RSS procession.

"In Jammu and Kashmir, RSS organises marches and in many other states as well, but we are not allowed in Tamil Nadu," he said dismissing police objections about RSS khakhi and pants resembling uniforms of the military.

BJP which cobbled together an NDA alliance with regional parties like the DMDK, MDMK, PMK, IJK and AIMMK for the Lok Sabha polls, contested local bodies by-elections on an unprecedented scale taking on the ruling AIADMK with support of its allies. It has also embarked on a vigorous membership drive with an eye on the 2016 assembly pools using the extensive social network of the RSS, Hindu Munnani and other Hindutva outfits as the party in itself lacks the desired cadre base and penetration at the booth levels which counts during elections. BJP reckons route marches like this can win friends and influence people at a time when the main Dravidian parties have received a political setback with the unseating of AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa as CM following her conviction in the disproporationate assets case and the DMK bracing itself for a possible adverse outcome for some of its leaders from the proceedings before a special CBI court in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.

"RSS has been very dormant in Tamil Nadu over the years and I have never seen anything of this kind of route marches being done so visibly now," says political analyst G Satyamurthy adding, "this is a manifestation of communalism as RSS wants to say we are Hindus and are in a majority, but the state has not got polarized on religious lines so far with caste considerations being dominant."

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