Devendra Kula Velalars divided over Shah’s visit

The visit of BJP national president Amit Shah to Madurai has run into a controversy with a section of the Devendra Kula Velalars accusing the party and its ideological parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of trying to use the community to reap electoral benefits.

The Tamil Nadu Devendra Kula Velalar Uravinmurai Sangam, led by its president C. Selvakumar, has said it is trying to unite several Scheduled Caste (SC) outfits to protest against Mr. Shah’s visit on August 6.

According to Mr. Selvakumar, the Devendra Charitable Trust, which is hosting the conference that Mr. Shah is to participate in, was led by an RSS pracharak M. Thangaraj.

“They are floating a dangerous idea by saying that they would ask for removing the community from the SC category in the future. This shows how disconnected they are from the majority of the community, which is facing great challenges, including poverty,” he said, adding that the BJP was creating a false image that the entire community was rallying behind it.

Mr. Selvakumar said while his organisation and many others too stood for the common title of Devendra Kula Velalar for all seven SC sub-sects, the idea that the community should be outside the SC category was a needless demand. According to him, this demand was largely driven by a select few who are economically forward within the community and had migrated to urban areas.

While admitting that he was indeed part of the RSS in the past, Mr. Thangaraj told

The Hindu that he had been fighting for the community’s rights for over 15 years. “I am no longer part of the RSS or the BJP,” he said.

On the charge that he was raising the issue of unifying seven SC sub-sects under one banner despite the existence of a GO enabling such a categorisation, he said only a notification on the Gazette facilitating a committee to address this issue exists.