PMK back to old ways in fight to stay relevant as polls near

The Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) which experimented with a broader political platform of a vanniyar-dalit axis more than 12 years ago and later an anti-dalit other backward class (OBC) front in 2012-14 has now returned to its vanniyar plank of the late 1980s.
The honeymoon period with the dalits was over when differences arose between the PMK and Thol Thirumavalavan’s VCK.The OBC front too did not make much headway in emerging as a champion of the backward classes as it portrayed itself as opposing attempts of dalits to create a social upheaval in the name of inter-caste marriage. Though the PMK did have some success in enlisting the support of a few backward class (BC) organisations when girls from OBC families eloped with dalit boys, it could not convert the platform into a broad OBC coalition for larger political gains.

Having meandered in the search of a potent political weapon, the PMK has now come full circle and reverted to its 1987-89 plank of reservation for vanniyars which its parent body, the Vanniyar Sangam, fought for. The image of a party which hacked trees as part of its agitation remained for several years until the PMK launched a green wing, Pasumai Thayagam, which took up issues of environment and forestry to regain lost ground. The PMK tried to shed the vanniyar tag by projecting itself as a inclusive BC party.
The PMK’s success in terms of actual representation for the oppressed has been the Most Backward Class (MBC) quota within the reservation for backward classes. However, as events turned out, the PMK believes that the vanniyar community did not get the expected benefits as the MBC quota was provided to 108 castes. The PMK claims that though the vanniyars constitute 25%-30% of Tamil Nadu’s population, only 8% of educational and job opportunities have come to them through the reservation route. The PMK has been seeking data on beneficiaries of reservation from each caste since 1989. The party is demanding a caste-based data in Tamil Nadu, and across the country, to strengthen the position of the backward classes in courts where reservation-based measures are awaiting judicial scrutiny (Tamil Nadu government on December 1 announced setting up of a panel to collect caste-wise data of the population after the PMK agitation on the reservation issue).
The PMK has renewed its demand of the 1980s for an exclusive 20% quota for the vanniyars since the MBC quota serves little purpose, being shared by 108 castes. The PMK hopes this will help consolidate its main vote-bank in northern Tamil Nadu. The PMK emphasis on its tried-and-tested vanniyar formula as against the broad OBC projection in the previous decade is apparently based on ground realities in northern Tamil Nadu with elections to the state assembly only a few months away. The PMK aims to counter the DMK, which hopes to gain inroads in the vanniyar bastion through Durai Murugan (newly-elected general secretary of the DMK).
Although the PMK ended up without a seat after the 2016 polls, its strategy of putting up a chief ministerial candidate, Anbumani Ramadoss, did secure some traction. The party got squeezed out in the battle between the two heavyweight CM candidates — J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi. In their absence, will the PMK throw its hat in the ring again? The PMK is yet to announce its strategy for the 2021 polls, though the renewed aggression indicates it is on the warpath and playing for larger stakes. In a suave articulate leader like Anbumani, the PMK has a credible CM candidate. It would be a tragedy of sorts to project Anbumani as a vanniyar chief minister when he has the credentials to represent the state as a whole.
The PMK’s pet demand of a vanniyar as chief minister, however, could strike a chord in northern Tamil Nadu if the party secures an exclusive quota for the caste. The AIADMK and the DMK are seen by the electorate as providers since they have been able to provide or improve upon the reservation quota while in government. In the 1980s, the PMK was seen as a protester. In the past decade, the party has tried to boost its image as a protector. It now seeks to play the role of a provider which delivers on its promises to its core community.
(The writer is a veteran journalist)