Parties In Fierce Debate On X Factor In Tamil Nadu Election

The spokespersons of four major parties had a fierce debate today on what could be the X factor in the Tamil Nadu assembly election. At the NDTV Tamil Nadu Summit, convenor of the state BJP's coordination committee, H Raja, fired the first shot.

"The DMK and MK Stalin tell people it is all about Tamil Nadu versus NDA. But that's not true. The DMK is not the sole representative of Tamil Nadu," Raja told NDTV.

He said the ruling DMK is playing identity politics to hide the state government's policy failures, such as massive debt.

"It would be better if we get rid of this debt-driven state government because in 2012-13 the debt of Tamil Nadu was Rs 1.35 lakh crore. In 2020 and 2021, it was Rs 4.3 lakh crore. Today, it is Rs 9.5 lakh crore. Tamil Nadu is the only state which is deeply debt-driven," the BJP leader said. "It's in a debt trap."

Raja cited the example of how many Tamil universities the DMK has opened in the southern state - "only one, that too started by MGR, not the DMK."

"The DMK is giving only lip service to Tamil Nadu to draw the attention of the Tamil people and keep them away from the other national issues," Raja said.

Responding directly to the BJP leader, DMK spokesperson Salem Dharaneetharan alleged the ruling party in the Centre "only wants to spread misinformation."

"Tamil Nadu's GDP in 2016 was Rs 11 lakh crore, which became Rs 17 lakh crore in 2021. But today the state GDP is Rs 35 lakh crore, which means it grew by 102 per cent. Tamil Nadu's growth rate in the last five years has been about 10 per cent, which is 70 per cent higher than what it was during 2016 to 21 or 2011 to 21," Dharaneetharan.

On the allegation that the DMK government runs a debt-driven system, he said this particular argument is misleading because if only debt is taken into account, then the richest industrialists would be "the poorest persons on planet Earth."

"Debt has to be spoken only in terms of debt to GDP ratio. Debt to GDP ratio of Tamil Nadu was only 17 per cent in 2011. When DMK demitted office, Tamil Nadu was the best-ruled state in the country with debt to GDP ratio of 17 per cent. It touched 30 per cent in 2021 under the AIADMK government, which our government reduced to 26 per cent. Tamil Nadu was the first state to reduce its revenue deficit during the pandemic years (2021-22)," the DMK spokesperson said at the event.

On the more politically volatile argument about identity, Dharaneetharan said the BJP does not represent all Hindus.

"If H Raja says DMK does not represent Tamils, then I would also say BJP does not represent Hindus; it does not represent Indians. The BJP does not have the right to choose who is anti-national, who is national. They are not a citizenship-awarding agency. They are a political party," Dharaneetharan said.

AIADMK national spokesperson Kovai Sathyan jumped right in. He asked a question to his DMK counterpart, after clarifying that the BJP always refers to its alliance with the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu as one led by the regional party, not the BJP.

Sathyan began with a challenge: "In this forum, I say, after my leader EPS, any person who is hardworking and loyal to AIADMK will become the general secretary...  Can my friend Salem Dharaneetharan here say that after MK Stalin, anybody who is loyal and hardworking in DMK will become the leader?"

This led to a shouting match as the two spokespersons tried to force their points across.

Referring to what just happened, Sathyan said, "When you corner DMK on facts, they start screaming, they start yelling, they say something which is totally irrelevant."

Defending the DMK, Dharaneetharan said anybody who the party workers prefer and accept can head the party. "If the workers by chance prefer someone who is related to the chief minister, that is not my problem. They are chosen democratically," the DMK spokesperson said.

He pointed out that even in the BJP, only one nomination was filed for the BJP chief's post.

Tamil Nadu Congress spokesperson Lakshmi Ramachandran took the debate back to the matter of why the main issue is Tamil Nadu vs NDA, and not DMK vs NDA.

"Tamil Nadu stands for secularism. It stands for social justice. Tamil Nadu stands for more autonomy to the state. But the NDA is just the opposite of all these principles and that's why it is Tamil Nadu versus NDA this election," Ramachandran said.

The Congress spokesperson said as far as the party's alliance with the DMK is concerned, the INDIA alliance in the Centre is led by the Congress and in Tamil Nadu it is led by the DMK.

The BJP is looking to breach the ruling DMK's defences in the upcoming assembly election, in the hope of coming to power in an alliance with the AIADMK.