Reading between the lines of DMK outreach 

The DMK political scion Udhayanidhi Stalin’s recent visit to the Dharmapuram Adheenam in Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu, and his interaction with the mutt head has been seen as a continuation of the party’s attempts to wriggle out of the uncomfortable anti-Hindu tag. Unlike his father M K Stalin, who had courted controversy recently by allegedly refusing to accept the sacred ash at a function in Pasumpon near Madurai, Udhayanidhi was seen bowing down to the seer as he smeared the ash on his forehead. 

This gesture is certainly a marked shift from the party’s strict ideological posture that it had derived from its parent, the Dravida Kazhagam, known for its stand against Hindu rituals and idol worship. A few days after his son’s mutt visit, Stalin told his party cadre that the DMK was not against Hindus and that the party had performed the kudamuzhuku (consecration) festival in over 5,000 temples between 1967 and 1975. His reiteration of the DMK’s commitment to this section of the populace was purportedly to counter the BJP’s campaign cry that the Dravidian party was not going to be sympathetic to them.

This slow shifting of the DMK’s ideological stand was seen early last year when its mouthpiece, Murasoli, had carried a little box titled: ‘Not supporting Hindus is wrong’. The article was published after an old video in which Stalin was seen criticising Hindu marriage rituals was being circulated.

In today’s political landscape, the emergence of the BJP with its much-publicised Vel Yatra seems to have added tenor to the DMK’s till-now soft voice, forcing the party to tweak its strategy to win over the section of the populace that may be swayed by the saffron wave. To this end, the DMK has already begun moving towards establishing itself as a party that is inclusive so as to avoid the anti-Hindu tag.

However, this seems to have created discomfort among the hardcore members, who are still holding on to the party’s Dravida Kazhagam roots. It now remains to be seen how much the DMK will bend from its ethos to take on the AIADMK-BJP combine in the volatile election battlefield in 2021.