The desperate political phenomenon has consistently blurred the boundaries of politics and has often resulted in serious consequences. The concept of desperate politics is driven by the aim of gaining influence and interests at any cost. Sometimes, the DMK’s desperate tactics have jeopardized not only cultural values but also the institutional and national security frameworks.
Weapons of desperate politics
DMK’s instruments of desperation operate on two principles: first, an anti-cultural narrative to maintain their influence in Tamil Nadu politics and secure their vote bank; second, systemic suppression of the cultural identity of Hindus and the BJP’s political influence. In recent months, this desperation has increased due to obvious reasons related to the upcoming elections, but the true cause is the growing ground influence of BJP in Tamil Nadu.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a double-digit vote share of around 18 per cent, with the BJP alone accounting for approximately 11.24 per cent. This marks a significant increase from its 2019 Lok Sabha vote share of 3.58 per cent. Notably, BJP also emerged as one of the leading political forces in Tamil Nadu for the first time, establishing itself as a noteworthy third force in the state, just behind the AIADMK (which garnered around 23.05 per cent of the total vote share) and even surpassing the AIADMK in some constituencies. All these statistics are achieved by BJP without an alliance with either of the two major Dravidian parties.
The first attack
After observing the BJP’s growing influence, the DMK launched its first confrontation by promoting an anti-cultural narrative rooted in their historical strategy inspired by their ideological founder, Periyar E.V. Ramasamy (founder of the Dravidar Kazhagam or DK). The narrative that Periyar promoted was based on the belief that Hinduism was a tool used by the “Aryan” Brahmins to enslave “Dravidians” through the caste system. Periyar in 1953 intensified his anti-Hindu stance when he stated, “He who created god is a fool, he who propagates god is a scoundrel and he who worships god is a barbarian”.
The first major breakthrough for DMK came in 1967 when it effectively used the Anti-Hindi agitation as a political tool to consolidate the non-Brahmin vote, making it the first regional party to form a majority government in India. Similarly, in 2007, DMK showed utter disregard for Hindu beliefs by pushing the then UPA government for the dredging of the Ram Setu to create a shipping canal. The most scathing attack came from Karunanidhi, who mocked Hindu beliefs by saying, “ Who is this Raman? In which engineering college did he study? Is there any proof of this bridge?
The social engineering project
DMK has devised a strong strategy to socially re-engineer the Tamil Nadu political and cultural landscape to isolate Brahmins and diminish traditional religious authority. The notable aspect is the effort to detach Tamil culture from Vedic religion and promote Tamil ethnic nationalism, which was central to the Dravidian Movement’s strategy and remains a key tactic against Hindus and Brahmins. This social engineering is carried out through measures such as Reservation and Interventionist approaches in Hindu beliefs.
The first is the reservation system in Tamil Nadu, which challenges Brahmin dominance in education and public service, ensuring proportional representation for non-Brahmin communities. The second is the interventionist approach, the “Archakas from All Castes” Initiative: a notable example is the DMK government’s implementation of the “Archakas from All Castes” scheme, which allows individuals from any caste to become priests in temples—roles traditionally reserved for Brahmins by birth.
This move directly challenges a core principle of traditional Vedic practice that links priesthood to birth and caste. The social restructuring of Tamil Nadu increases the risk of Hindus being pushed further to the margins. The aggressive revival of this was perhaps seen two years back in 2023 when Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin spoke at a conference titled “Sanatana Dharma Abolition Conference”, where he compared Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) to “mosquitoes, dengue, flu and malaria” and stated it should not just be opposed but “eradicated”.
The systemic suppression
The second strategy of DMK is to systematically suppress Hindu influence, especially its political sway promoted by the BJP. Capturing institutions and framing them with anti-Hindu agendas is crucial for DMK. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department oversees approximately 44,000 Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu. There have been numerous reports of funds allocated for temples being diverted to non-religious government schemes or administrative expenses rather than temple upkeep. Likewise, appointing atheists to temple boards and interfering with rituals are part of this approach. Another attempt to hijack an institution became a key strategy to prevent Hindus from seeking relief—the Judiciary.
DMK’s lawfare strategy
DMK’s sophisticated legal strategy aims to use legislative acts, executive orders and state-appointed legal teams to challenge traditional Hindu practices in court. Perhaps this legal warfare began with taking over the management of temples previously managed by the priest community. A classic example is the Chidambaram Natarajar Temple case, where DMK has sought to take control of the temple administration from priests (Podu Dikshits), a small community of priests protected under the Constitution as a “Religious Denomination”. Despite the Supreme Court ruling in favor of the priests in 2014, DMK has continued to harass priests and temple administration through inquiries and unnecessary legal battles. Building on its lawfare strategy, DMK has also targeted judges to ensure their influence remains in the judiciary as well.
In 2020, R.S. Bharathi, the DMK Organization Secretary and a senior leader, delivered a speech to party cadres in which he stated that the appointment of Dalits as High Court judges was “Alms (Pichai) thrown by the Dravidian Movement”. This was viewed as a direct attack on judicial independence, but DMK further escalated the situation by targeting judges who were sympathetic and ruled in favor of Hindu practices, and by questioning DMK’s stance.
The classic case of Justice N. Anand Venkatesh initiating suo motu (on his own) revision petitions against the acquittal of several senior DMK ministers (including K. Ponmudi and Thangam Thennarasu) in corruption cases. The DMK ministers immediately moved the Supreme Court, alleging the judge was biased and had a “malafide intent”. The recent attack on Madras High Court Judge Swaminathan by bringing impeachment against him appears to be another coordinated tactic of lawfare by DMK to secure their influence and counter Brahmins/Hindu influence.
The security compromise
The Dravidian ideology ran so deep in Tamil Nadu that it also overlooked national security. The findings of the Jain Commission said that the LTTE was given a safe haven in Tamil Nadu and allowed to freely operate by the DMK government, which led the LTTE cadre to build deep networks in Tamil Nadu.
Dravadian movement losing its meaning
The Dravidian Movement’s original goal was to promote rationalism, but it has degenerated into a political game of selective secularism. The movement has lost its original meaning and has politically transformed into a survival tactic for DMK. The three pillars of its ideology—Rationalism, Social Justice and Self-Respect—are now losing their core essence. First, DMK applies rationalism only to Hindu customs. DMK leaders openly mock Hindu rituals (like fire sacrifices or idol worship), yet they attend Iftar parties and Christian mass events with respect. The Dravidian ideology initially promoted social justice and a casteless society, but DMK has reinforced caste divisions, allowing OBCs to advance in society. The caste violence in the state against Dalits, according to significant data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), indicates a rise in crimes against Scheduled Castes (SCs)—from 1,377 cases in 2021 to 1,761 in 2022 and further to 1,921 in 2023.
Regarding the Self-respect idea of the Dravidian movement, it is also eroding. The movement promoted meritocracy and intellectualism, but today DMK is gradually shifting towards dynastic politics and focusing more on wealth. Another core principle of Self-respect is that one should stand tall and not bow, but under DMK, there has been a rise in sycophancy and the deification of leaders.
The DMK’s core beliefs are losing their value and the idea has almost mutated into a political structure. The founder of DMK, C.N. Annadurai, who was also a pivotal figure in the Dravidian Movement, said he would not break coconuts for Ganesha, but I will also not break the Ganesha idol. Highlighting the element of tolerance, which is also advocated by Dravidian ideology. However, what we see today is desperate politics by DMK, which has led to some serious questions over the party’s credibility in the future of Tamil Nadu politics.
