he emergence of the DMDK-PWF alliance — of which the VCK, a Dalit party, is a member — as a viable ‘Third Front’ should have made the DMK and the AIADMK uneasy about their chances in several constituencies in southern districts. But things have not quite turned out that way.
Everyone in the region is asking if the VCK, which is predominantly seen as a Paraiyar-dominated party active in northern Tamil Nadu, and its allies have what it takes to carve out a piece from the Pallar (also referred to as ‘Devendrakula Vellalars’) vote base in these areas? While the VCK is contesting from Manamadurai and Paramakudi, both reserved constituencies, it also hopes to transfer Dalit votes in other seats, where its alliance partners are in the fray.
Traditionally, the AIADMK is backed in a big way by the Thevar community while the DMK has the support of Dalits. Now, it is apparent that it will be impossible to overcome the caste equations that the two Dravidian parties have worked out between themselves in the past many decades.
‘Party may struggle’
Why can’t the VCK eat into the Dalit vote bank? The differences between the two groups — Pallars and the Paraiyars — are sometimes so sharp that the former don’t think of themselves as Dalits, either socially or politically. In short, there is not one Dalit vote bank but three — Devendrakula Vellalars, Paraiyars and Arundhathiyars.
Chandra Bose, convenor of Thiyagi Immanuel Sekaran Peravai, admits that the VCK may struggle to bag the votes of the Devendrakula Vellalars.
“Devendrakula Vellalars own lands and have better economic living standards than Paraiyars,” he says. “Many members of the community have also bagged government jobs historically, unlike the Paraiyar community that is still largely impoverished. They don’t see themselves on the same side even though they largely are.”
Not only will the VCK not get those votes; it will also not corner the votes of the dominant castes, which see it is as a party that is inimical to their interests.
An old Thevar woman selling cigarettes and soft drinks outside a memorial in Paramakudi built for Dalit icon Immanuel Sekaran says that she will always vote for the AIADMK.
“We, Thevars, will always vote for Amma. Has any other party done what she has done for our community,” she asks candidly.
In Paramakudi, Manamadurai and other areas in the vicinity, it is very difficult to see paintings or pictures of Ambedkar or Periyar put up by Dalits. Images of Immanuel Sekaran dressed in an army uniform dominate the walls and the banners.
This is the most crucial difference between the two communities, says Stalin Rajangam, an assistant professor at Madurai’s American College.
“The revolutionary message of Dr. Ambedkar and Periyar has seeped into the psyche of the Paraiyar community. In the south, the Dalits largely like to see themselves as a caste [Devendrakula Vellalars] that deserves the same social status as the Thevars. They don’t talk largely about annihilation of caste.”
Activists working to forge an alliance between the two Dalit communities accuse Dravidian parties of letting hatred simmer between Dalits and those from the backward classes.
“It is true that Pallars are financially well off when compared to Paraiyars or Chakkiliyars or Arundhathiyars. By constantly giving party tickets to those from the Pallar community, Dravidian parties have, unwittingly or not, been pitting one Dalit community against the other even while maintaining the dominant caste hegemony,” says Velmurugan, an advocate and VCK organiser in Manamadurai.
Shiva, who belongs to the Pallar community but has joined the VCK in Paramakudi, says that a formidable alliance between Pallars and Paraiyars is the need of the hour.
“We are here to create change and provide an alternative to the politics pursued by the Dravidian parties. Things will change in the coming years,” he says.
DMK, AIADMK have, unwittingly or not, been pitting Dalits against one another, says a VCK leader
