The suggestion by jailed AIADMK leader V.K. Sasikala’s brother Divakaran to replace Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami with Speaker P Dhanapal has triggered a debate in the party on whether the Dhinakaran camp was playing the Dalit card.
Mr. Dhanapal, who was elected from the Avinashi constituency of the western region in the 2016 Assembly polls, belongs to the Arundathiar community.
Out of the 19 MLAs who submitted letters to the Governor withdrawing their support to Mr. Palaniswami, eight belong to the Scheduled Castes (SC). Five of them are from the southern districts.
The 2016 Assembly elections saw the AIADMK winning in 32 constituencies for SC/Scheduled Tribes. Besides this, P. Benjamin, a Dalit Christian and Minister for Rural Industries, won from Maduravoyal, a general constituency.
Four months ago, a group of 10 Dalit MLAs met at a Chennai hotel, seeking higher representation in the Cabinet, which has only two Dalit Ministers, V. Saroja (Social Welfare) and V.M. Rajalakshmi (Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare). The two were elected from the constituencies reserved for SC/STs. However, Mr. Palaniswami did not entertain their plea.
For long, both the AIADMK and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) have been criticised for not providing enough political space to Dalit leaders within the organisation or in the composition of the ministry while in power.
A leader of the AIADMK, who is a Vanniyar, says the suggestion can be seen in two ways. One, the Dhinakaran camp can claim credit for seeking to have the first Dalit Chief Minister in Tamil Nadu, which has about 20% per cent of SC/ST population, as per the 2011 Census.
Two, the suggestion could have been made to retain those Dalit MLAs who are favouring the rebel leader.
‘Want to protect party’
Two Dalit MLAs in the Dhinakaran camp say they are with the deputy general secretary because they “want to protect the party” and they are “impressed with his leadership qualities.”
A Dalit legislator who is part of the ruling dispensation says that many of those MLAs who are supporting Mr Dhinakaran are newcomers and they “lack commitment” to the party.