The recent judgment of the Supreme Court’s seven-judge Bench equating the use of religion, caste, race, community, and language to seek votes to ‘corruption’ has evoked mixed reaction in the State.
Leaders whom The Hindu spoke to said that while they welcomed the judgment, they had their own reservations. The former DMK minister Thangam Thennarasu contended that Dravidian parties such as the DMK did not mobilise people on the basis of caste or religion unlike the Hindu right wing parties or some minority parties. “So, we have nothing really to worry about this judgment. Although it is true that a candidate from the dominant majority community is fielded from most constituencies, it is not true that caste alone determines victory. Even when it comes to speaking for a linguistic-community, DMK only invokes the identity to speak about discrimination and injustice,” he said.
‘Curb distribution of cash’
PMK youth wing leader Anbumani Ramadoss felt that the “biggest cancer of democracy” was distribution of cash among voters. “Much of what the Supreme Court has pointed out is already there in the Representation of Peoples Act. I agree that no party should solicit votes on the basis of religion or caste or language. However, the bigger question of soliciting votes by distributing money needs to be addressed by the Supreme Court. It is the biggest form of cancer in our democracy. The political parties today directly buy democracy with money. We have to address that cancer as well,” he said.
Mr. Anbumani Ramadoss argued that “If we take verdict at face value, DMK must take off ‘Dravida’ from their name. ‘Dravida’ signifies a race. They are blatantly violating the Representation of Peoples Act. Similarly, we must put an end to religious figureheads from all religions — Hinduism, Islam and Christianity — from contesting elections.”
BJP State president Tamilisai Soundararajan said that caste politics and cash politics was gaining momentum in Tamil Nadu. “Caste is a growing electoral problem — casteism is more worrisome than religious division in this State. Unfortunately, these days, there are caste organisations that corner some votes and try to be influential. There are rules saying that caste and religion should not be mentioned, but no one follows that. This enforces that rule, so we welcome it. This is a healthy observation,” she said.
‘Against identity politics’
Reacting to the judgment, D. Ravi Kumar, general secretary, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, said there were aspects of judgment that needed to be welcomed. “The entire judgment is against identity politics and we should welcome it. Some observations of the judges who delivered a dissenting but minority judgement are valid. They have pointed out that some communities have been suppressed for centuries and that we shouldn’t shun them because their mobilisation happens on the basis of caste,” he said. “Election Commission of India must use this verdict and cancel the membership of all caste-based political parties. There should be no dual memberships – for example, one shouldn’t be a member of RSS and also become a Minister in the BJP Government. They will use the former for mobilisation.”
TMC leader G.K. Vasan in a statement said the Supreme Court verdict must be followed by all political parties. “The Election Commission must be vigilant and take appropriate action against political parties that violate these rules. The Union and state governments must work with the Election Commission in this regard,” he said.
‘Constitutional rights’
M.H. Jawahirullah, president, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, said that it was unfair to brand political parties that represent minority communities as parties that use religion for mobilisation. “While members from the minority communities are more in number in our party, it is unfair to see our party through religious lens. We are fighting for the political rights of Muslims. We don't do politics in the name of a religion. We are only asserting our constitutional rights,” he said.
E.R. Eswaran, general secretary, Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi, said it would be very difficult to implement this judgment. “It is not possible to enforce it. All parties nominate candidates from minority communities. Can the court say that dominant caste candidates cannot be fielded? India is a collection of castes. Can we get rid of reserved seats? How can we say caste shouldn’t be spoken? It is good to hear these things, that’s all,” he added.
