EPS aims to shore up the Thevar vote

Chennai: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami is visiting Pasumpon in Ramanathapuram on Thursday for the 118th Thevar Jayanthi and 63rd Guru Pooja festival of freedom fighter Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar. The visit comes amid tension in the wake of his refusal to align with O Panneerselvam, T T V Dhinakaran, and V K Sasikala, all members of the mukkulathor (thevar) community in the south. EPS resumed his annual Pasumpon visit in 2023 after a three-year break to consolidate support from the influential community. The EPS camp's aim is to prevent further alienation and counter fragmentation of thevar vote. The shift in the southern belt's allegiance to DMK and Congress was probably due to AIADMK regime's decision to carve out an exclusive vanniyar quota from MBC quota in 2021, just ahead of assembly election that year, and expulsion of the three leaders, which perhaps impacted poll results. The DMK alliance secured 40 of 58 constituencies in the southern belt, contributing to DMK's return to office after a decade. Recalling popularity of the late chief ministers M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa among mukkulathors, former minister Dindigul C Sreenivasan said, "The community will support EPS just as it backed MGR and Amma. EPS will receive a rousing welcome from the community tomorrow." Besides Sreenivasan, 15 former ministers and senior functionaries from the mukkulathor community, including Sellur K Raju, Natham R Viswanathan, O S Manian, R Kamaraj, and C Vijayabaskar, remain loyal to EPS despite his stand against re-admitting the expelled leaders. EPS appointed former minister R B Udhayakumar, a mukkulathor member, as deputy leader of opposition in the assembly, replacing Panneerselvam, and Sreenivasan as party treasurer. Furthermore, he maintains camaraderie with BJP state president Nainar Nagenthran, who is also from the community. In a recent roadshow in Dindigul, following dissent from veteran K A Sengottaiyan, who demanded the re-admission of expelled leaders, EPS appealed to Union govt to confer Bharat Ratna award posthumously on Muthuramalinga. BJP, however, is taking care not to alienate dalit population, significant in the caste-sensitive region. EPS's demand for Bharat Ratna for Muthuramalinga Thevar has drawn strong response from potential allies such as Puthiya Tamilagam, who are urging Centre to confer it on a dalit leader. "EPS cannot afford to lose support of mukkulathors, especially after Dhinakaran's AMMK spoilt chances of AIADMK in 20 seats, including nine in the south," said a senior AIADMK functionary.