Coimbatore: By announcing a 10.5% quota within a quota for vanniyars, and getting the Centre to club together seven scheduled castes into one and calling them devendrakula vellalar, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami did what his predecessors didn’t.
Though the two demands were decades old, they were never considered by J Jayalalithaa or by M Karunanidhi because they would unsettle the caste dynamics electorally. EPS has now changed the caste dynamics and could reap the benefits in the poll. Some in the AIADMK term it a masterstroke by EPS to consolidate certain caste groups. But giving in to the demands of devendrakula vellalars and vanniyars comes with the risk of antagonizing the AIADMK’s traditional vote banks.
Kongu vellalars, the community to which EPS belongs to and which is considered to solidly back the AIADMK, are upset since the title ‘vellalar’ was given to a scheduled caste. If kongu vellalars are upset in west Tamil Nadu, the saiva vellalars in south TN are also upset for the same reason.
“The Centre and the state government have to reconsider the decision to grant the title of vellalar used by muthaliyar, pillamar, chettiar communities for ages to other communities. We support the demand of a few communities to be clubbed together under a common title. But the historic vellalar title should not be given to anyone else,” said film producer Ishari K Ganesh, who presided over a protest against the Centre’s move.
The carving out of a quota exclusively for vanniyars, meanwhile, has sparked outrage among other most backward classes who were demanding similar reservation. EPS has not only failed to fulfil their demands but has given a sizable chunk of existing quota to vanniyars, leaving the other MBCs to make do with whatever is left.
The outrage has started spilling over to the streets. Students of a college in Kamuthi boycotted classes on Wednesday demanding a separate quota for about 60 denotified communities (DNC). Mukkulathor Pulipadai founder Karunas has demanded a similar quota within a quota for thevars.
Mutharayars, who form a sizable vote bank in central Tamil Nadu, have demanded denotified tribe staus.
“Because of the quota for vanniyars, the AIADMK has helped PMK to increase its vote bank at the cost of its own. Other castes who are offended by a separate quota for vanniyars might take a stand against the AIADMK,” former party MP K C Palaniswamy said. Similarly, in the devendrakula vellalar issue, the AIADMK has helped the BJP since it was Modi who made the announcement, he felt.
Political commentator Tharasu Shyam said the AIADMK’s calculation was that the announcements would help the party offset the loss of thevar votes. “But that is a miscalculation. To accede to the demand of only two castes during an election year is a misstep,” he said.
Sources in the AIADMK, however, maintain that the decisions would certainly help them.