National Parties Rely on Karnataka Units for Tamil Nadu Election Campaigns
With less than 48 hours remaining before polling booths open in Tamil Nadu, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress have significantly ramped up their campaign efforts. Both national parties, facing a limited cadre base within Tamil Nadu, have heavily leaned on their Karnataka units to bolster support for their respective allies in a high-stakes electoral contest dominated by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
Strategic Deployment of Functionaries Across Key Constituencies
Although BJP and Congress serve as junior allies in Tamil Nadu, they have gone all out to sway voters in the constituencies they are contesting while also strengthening their alliances on the ground. Congress has deployed approximately 50 functionaries, including Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and several ministers from Karnataka. Meanwhile, BJP has sent around 30 functionaries, featuring opposition leader R Ashoka among others.
Many of these deployed members have been assigned to constituencies with sizeable Kannada-speaking populations, such as Thalli, Hosur, Dharmapuri, and Salem. A Karnataka BJP functionary highlighted, "Some members who are versatile in Hindi campaigned among smaller vote banks like Gujaratis, Rajasthanis, and even Marathas in Thanjavur, who claim to be descendants of Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj."
Congress Adopts Similar Tactics for Community Engagement
Congress has mirrored this approach by deploying functionaries capable of engaging with smaller communities and coordinating rallies for national leaders. DK Suresh, the brother of DK Shivakumar, has been stationed in Tamil Nadu for the past 15 days, overseeing campaign coordination with local functionaries. A Congress functionary explained, "While a majority have been deployed as observers, people like Suresh have been given charge of certain constituencies to ensure the victory of Congress candidates."
However, some functionaries described the large-scale deployment as a "customary" exercise aimed at providing Karnataka politicians with exposure to electoral work in other states. A Congress functionary noted, "While all this may be true, the fact remains that both Congress and BJP members had little to do back home and so were deployed to help parties in TN. Had there been political action in the state, none would have gone to TN."
Defending the Move as a Learning Experience
Labour Minister Santosh Lad defended the deployment, stating it offered "valuable" exposure. He said, "The aim was to give us an understanding of how elections are held in that state. It helped us connect with our counterparts, many of whom have Karnataka and Bengaluru connections. It was a learning experience, while we too imparted some of our ideas to our workers and functionaries in TN."
BJP's Chaluvadi Narayanaswamy, opposition leader in the legislative council, echoed similar views. He remarked, "It is natural for functionaries from adjoining states to help each other. This is an advantage which national parties have. Also, many functionaries from Bengaluru are versatile in at least two or more languages including Tamil. For BJP, the aim was to ensure no effort is spared to ensure victory of our NDA candidates."
This strategic mobilization underscores the intense efforts by BJP and Congress to influence the Tamil Nadu elections, leveraging linguistic and cultural ties to maximize their impact in a politically charged environment.
