Tamils in city not much swayed by Dravidian poll winds

Posters put by All India Anna Dravida Munntera Kazhagam in the city call for votes to give “an imprint of AIADMK supermo Jayalalithaa on the administration of Kerala.”

Such posters have come up in several parts of Thiruvananthapuram constituency, where AIADMK has decided to support businessman Biju Ramesh in the coming Assembly polls.

But for the hundreds of Tamil diaspora settled in the city, the high profile entry of a main Dravidian party into electoral politics has not caused much cheer.

Just a slogan

“It is just a slogan. We are not too enthused or bothered about it. Even in the past, there were candidates of Dravidian parties. Maybe this time, it has become high profile because the candidate belongs to a business community,” said a member of the Tamil Sangham.

There is a sizeable segment of Tamil population settled at Karamana, Chenthitta, Chala, Thalial, Puthantherevu, West Fort, Pazhavangadi in the city, and places adjoining the bordering districts.

Preferences clear

According to Shankar, vice-president of Tamil Sangham, there are more than 1 lakh Tamil voters spread across the capital district and they have their preferences clear.

“The Sangham has no say in deciding the preferences of voters. All political parties seek our support and it is left to the individuals. However, communities within the diaspora sometime take an open stand. We have got nothing to do with that,” he said.

According to Tamil writer Neela Padmanabhan, the Tamil voters settled here have always set their preferences for national parties rather identifying with candidates put up by Dravidian parties.

Political culture

“Their affinity centred on candidates put up by either Congress, BJP or Left parties. These people have settled here for a long time and have become part of the political culture here. They might follow the political developments in Tamil Nadu with great enthusiasm but when it came to exercising their right to franchise here, the preferences change,” he said.

Posters supporting AIADMK has come up in several parts

There is a sizeable Tamil population in the city