Last week, we looked at what was at stake for AIADMK and Edappadi K Palaniswami in the AIADMK-BJP split and how the AIADMK could actually benefit by going to polls without the support of BJP or any major national party. However, there had been no official communique yet from the BJP. In this backdrop, state BJP president K Annamalai left for Delhi on Sunday and allegedly held meetings with top BJP leaders including finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Back in TN, rumours made rounds that the BJP national leadership would soon replace Annamalai with another leader as the party’s state president. Several journalists and political pundits even asserted on social media that he was getting replaced by a lady MLA from the western belt. This speculation was all the more believable as Annamalai, before leaving to Delhi, had compared the state president’s position to an onion – when you take off the peels, there is nothing inside. Or, did he mean onions brought tears when worked on? Nevertheless, that speculation has been put on hold, at least for now, now with the state BJP unit releasing a medical statement on Annamalai’s ill-health and the postponement of the proposed pada yatra by two weeks.
As I had mentioned in this column last week, one does have to give credit to Annamalai for his efforts to keep the statue unit of BJP constantly in the limelight. He has been taking on Chief Minister MK Stalin as well as senior AIADMK leaders with equal vigour. Even his predecessors Dr. L Murugan, who is now a union minister, and Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan have given their everything to kept the state BJP in the limelight and never veered off course. But the past few polls have shown that all that effort and noise failed to materialize when it came to garnering votes. The party’s patronage in the state has largely remained where it was when Tamilisai Soundarajan became BJP state president in August 2014 and that trend is likely to continue in the 2024 polls as things stand now. Why hasn’t Annamalai’s energy or Modi’s magic made an impact among voters in TN?
According to the National Institute for Transforming India, NITI-AAYOG, which brings out an annual health index tracking the progress on health outcomes and performance of healthcare systems among states and union territories, TN has been ranking second in the country only after Kerala for several years now.
Those who have travelled widely across India and have worked in other parts of the country for long periods of time might would know — TN ranks among the best in the country in almost all major parameters determining quality of life in a state. For starters, let’s take health. According to the National Institute for Transforming India, NITI-AAYOG, which brings out an annual health index tracking the progress on health outcomes and performance of healthcare systems among states and union territories, TN has been ranking second in the country only after Kerala for several years now. Despite ten years of NDA rule, the health index in other states, including ones ruled by BJP, is nowhere close to these southern neighbours.
In terms of livelihood, TN again ranks among the best states in the country with significantly higher average income levels. Data brought out by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation shows that the per capita income for TN, for the past three years, has been significantly higher than the rest of India and is steadily rising too. The per capita net state domestic product at current prices for TN has been Rs. 2,12,174 in 2020, Rs. 2,41,131 in 2021, and Rs. 2,73,288 in 2022. Only Karnataka, Telangana and Haryana (data was unavailable for Delhi in 2022) rank better than TN. Similarly, in all other key areas such as education, job opportunities, law and order etc. TN also ranks among the top performing states in the country way ahead of UP, West Bengal and other states where the BJP’s development rhetoric has been working.
However, these statistics are just generic indicators. When it comes to appeasing the voter, one could strongly argue that no state anywhere in the country can match TN. Both DMK and AIADMK have been constantly trying to outsmart each other in doling out goodies to the voter. The long list of freebies offered to the TN voters include Colour TVs, laptop computers and bicycles for students, free scooters for eligible women, free public transport for senior citizens and students, wet grinders, extremely subsidized food, subsidised rice and other food grains. Women have been especially wooed with several schemes designed exclusively for them such as the Sumangali scheme, gold assistance etc. which turned out to be a big hit. Now, the state government also provides eligible homemakers with some pocket money.
While this freebie culture has been often criticised as bad economics, the state’s robust growth statistics does show that it is indeed sustainable and is now even emulated by practically every political party across the country.
Many years before PM Modi introduced free universal health insurance for all citizens under PM-JAY, the DMK government under M Karunanidhi introduced free health insurance for everyone in the state under Kalaignar Kaapitu Thittam that was later renamed Chief Minister’s Health Insurance Scheme. Similarly, the noon-meal scheme for students, which now also includes breakfasts, has for long been TN’s pride. While this freebie culture has been often criticised as bad economics, the state’s robust growth statistics does show that it is indeed sustainable and is now even emulated by practically every political party across the country. After all, the role of the state is to make life better for its citizens. Isn’t it?
The state BJP and Annamalai have been mostly running their campaign promising clean governance and a corruption-free state. It is indeed true that corruption is rampant and several mega scams continue to get exposed time and again. But can Annamalai’s promise of a corruption-free government be enough to sway the TN voter towards the BJP? Does the ordinary, hardworking citizen of TN really bother about corruption so much when his life or her life is clearly much better than those in other parts of the country?
If Annamalai and BJP intend to make inroads in TN, they have to truly think outside the large box of goodies that TN voters have been flooded with and come out with an original plan that would directly benefits the voter. More importantly, he needs to instill confidence among the TN voter that the state unit of BJP will, if necessary, lock horns with the parent organisation to protect the state’s interests. And taking that message to the voter would be Anammalai or any state BJP chief’s biggest challenge.