DPF Launching ( The Straits Times )

Event : Launch

Article: The Straits Times

Article Date : 4 April 2021

Article Link : https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/tamil-nadu-votes-for-new-government-and-the-future

Since 1967, only Dravidian parties have ruled here, prioritising Tamil cultural identity and social justice policies like reserving college seats and job opportunities for 'backward' castes, free meal schemes that boosted school enrolment, and industrial development that especially helped disempowered caste groups.

National parties like the Congress could subsist in Tamil Nadu only as allies of the regional parties. In 2021, the BJP has done the same, entering into an alliance with the ruling AIADMK, which faces a tough re-election after 10 years in power, the last few turbulent with factional infighting.

"For the past 20 years, DMK and AIADMK clashed on personalities, but both proceeded on the same Dravidian ideology. But the BJP's ideology is diametrically opposed to ours. To fight against it, we have to strengthen and propagate our own ideals," said DMK's organising secretary and parliamentarian TKS Elangovan.

DMK's IT wing chief PTR Thiagarajan, who is part of Mr Stalin's close team, has been at the forefront of this "return to values," as he calls it.

The former investment banker and grandson of a Dravidian movement founder launched the Dravidian Professionals Forum in December last year, a group of social scientists, accountants and lawyers to revive lost support among the educated upper middle class.

Listing the state's high per capita income and favourable social indicators like gender ratio, Chennai-based corporate lawyer Pugazh Gandhi, the coordinator of the Forum said: "Our aim is to inform educated, successful Tamils of the role equal-opportunity politics played in their success."

During the pandemic, the Forum held virtual book discussions on the economy and relevance of Periyar's works, and contributed to the DMK's election manifesto.

Meanwhile, the IT wing's over 26,000 members have, since 2017, sharpened the party's social media messaging to reflect a sharp anti-BJP stance. On April 1, for example, dozens of DMK election candidates tweeted invitations to Prime Minister Modi to campaign for their opponents to help widen their "winning margin" of votes.