It is said our land of birth keeps calling us. From Rabindranath Tagore’s short story “Kabuliwala” to Ashutosh Gowariker’s film Swades literature and cinema have underlined it. Neither distance nor long absence diminishes the interest. Like the Indian Diaspora still reaches out to its homeland during elections, migrants from different states of the country, who moved out in search of livelihood and education, also remain hooked to the dance of democracy in their native states.
Delhi is home to many such groups. Once the city of Punjabi refugees, today migrants from Tamil Nadu and Kerala also have a distinct voice in the city. Estimated to be over 20 lakhs, they are spread over in Janakapuri, Mayur Vihar, Rohini and Dwarka. The significant number came to notice when DMDK, a Tamil Nadu party fielded candidates in 2013 Delhi Assembly elections. With the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and Kerala only a couple of days away it is time to check the political pulse.
Nazia Izuddin, a young advocate and social entrepreneur, who divides her time between Delhi and Dehradun, hails from Ernakulum and has spent almost half her life outside Kerala. Her childhood memories of watching rallies in Ernakulum with the Congress ‘hand’ flying all over the place are yet to become stale. Nazia says a lot of value sets in her come from the Kerala society and every election indicates the shift in the socio-cultural-political value system of the state. “The first curiosity and the subsequent reactions are based on how the value system is changing or what is happening with it. That is why elections become a concern.”
What makes Kerala unique is its socio-political construct. For instance, Nazia says, people in Delhi don’t know much about the mixed cultural environment of the state. “In Kerala Muslims, Hindus and Christians know substantially about each other’s culture, which, I feel, is not the case in the North. Here, they seem little suspicious of each other.” The strong presence of the Left has rubbed off on other parties. “The Kerala Congress has cadre system because there has been a strong influence of the CPI (M) on the party. You still see humility in political leaders.”
As for the campaign, Nazia says, some part of it is threatening and some is heartening. “Like the discourse on beef is alien to Kerala’s cultural milieu. What worries me is people who are raising this issue are from Kerala and I want to understand from where did they inherit this issue? And if they believe in it, it might change the global image of Keralites as liberal people.”
Comparing the electioneering with Delhi Assembly elections, Nazia says there is definitely more discourse in Kerala election. “You can’t wash people away with a campaign like you do in, say, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Persona and perception are carefully developed and dissected in Kerala society. People ask for the value system their future candidate represents. In the North, politicians often try to stoke people’s emotions rather than their thoughts. In Kerala the political discourse can’t be based just on hope, and this is heartening.”
Keralites love satire and like to mock people who show off. “They will attend a meeting and go home to discuss and even make fun of the star on stage. Women have a say in the political dialogue.” One thing that differentiates Kerala from Delhi or Uttarakhand is the presence of functioning social groups and public libraries which make political discussion an everyday activity. In Delhi, people living in posh colonies are usually unaware of what is happening in the slums around them. Secondly, Nazia says, most Keralites have spent life outside the state, so nobody can easily sell them development models of other states.
While the average age of the politicians in the North has come down, in the South VS Achuthanandan and K. Karunanidhi are still in the fray for the top post. “None of these people are crawling as yet,” argues Nazia. “They can still hold themselves up. Unless they feel frail and could not be part of a public campaign, age should not be an issue.”
It is not that the Northern style of campaigning is not having any impact at all. “Some of the punchlines that are being used by the parties, including the LDF, are as gimmicky as the ones used in Bihar elections or the last Lok Sabha elections. This is a new for the state,” notes Nazia.
The Tamil angle
Meanwhile, most Tamils miss the festive atmosphere associated with the elections in their State. Calling it a festive celebration, B. Kumar, employee of a private bank, quips: “The difference is it lasts for a month unlike the religious festivals.”
“The attendance in the street corner meetings and rallies, the music, songs, the colourful banners and cut-outs has to be seen to be believed,” chips in Jambunathan, recently transferred to the Chennai office of K&S Partners, from Delhi. Agreeing with him K. Raghavan, a Delhi resident for 35 years and a BSEB Rajdhani employee finds the level of political awareness in Tamil Nadu high with individuals asserting their choice. “I am personally aware of families where not just family members but even husband and wife vote for different parties. Hopefully, the marital cordiality is not affected,” he remarks.
Lack of public participation in political meetings in Delhi surprises Kalyanasundaram, General Manager, Central Cottage Industries. “TN voters are very keen to listen to their leaders and do not mind waiting hours in sun and rain, though it seldom comes (laughs). Delhiites also vote but in Tamil Nadu a sense of devotion to the leader or the party makes it sacred.” Evident when Kumar, on voting list in Mylandurai, Tamil Nadu, reveals that he never misses voting for Assembly and Parliament elections.
Public participation in TN ensures the speakers to be at their best during campaigning. “Speeches are well-drafted and continuously revised to ensure maximum impact on the electorate,” says Kalyanasundaram. Jambunathan, who has attended some meetings this year, remarks: “Not just rhetoric but pithy lines and wit punctuate the speeches to keep the audience attention.”
Like others, these Tamils too are impacted by the emergence of Aam Aadmi Party as the third force. Impressed by their performance against corruption Jambunathan hopes replication of this political initiative in other parts of the country, including Tamil Nadu. Kumar too wants a political group on similar lines to emerge in TN. “This will negate the TINA factor. May be it could lead to better delivery of election promises,” says Kalyanasundaram.
Prof. D. Murthy, Chairman of Department of Modern Indian Languages at Aligarh Muslim University, has spent the last 28 years in northern India. Not happy with the turn of events, he recalls when he first came to the North; he had a sense of pride for coming from a state with good irrigation, general health, road transport and electricity. In fact, in the 90s, Prof. Murthy sent a memorandum to the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav based on the progress made by Tamil Nadu in primary education system as each revenue village had a school and each revenue village was connected to the town with a pucca road. “Tamil Nadu is known for rules and regulations. Not any more. Tamil people are very happy to say that they are law abiding people but perhaps we are losing that edge. Now it is like any other state. Now I can say even the recent Bihar elections were better than what we are seeing in Tamil Nadu. It seems socialism has reached everywhere!” remarks Prof. Murthy capturing the irony.
A product of Chennai’s Presidency College, Prof. Murthy says electioneering has changed drastically from what it was in the Kamaraj and Anna period. A student leader in his college days, he says students had the guts to put tough questions to their political leaders and they were obliged to answer them, but there were no personal attacks. “Today, forget students, not many top economists or social scientists have come forward to say that the freebies announced by all the parties are not feasible. Election propaganda has been reduced to personal attacks. Instead of training the people to question the government, parties are offering people biryani and money to attend meetings.”
Hailing from Vellore, Prof. Murthy reminds that Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, the mentor of most Dravidian leaders, was against hero worship and personality cult. “Still a lot of money is spent on stars, posters and cut outs.” Will he like to go and vote? “If the provision of NOTA gets legal sanction, I will love to. Right now, I am happy with my students. They have an examination to face tomorrow.”
