Tamil Nadu Elections 2026: Caste Politics, Alliances, Symbols, and Electoral Gains | Chennai News

On April 3 last year, chief minister M K Stalin announced in the assembly that a memorial would be built in Usilampatti for All India Forward Bloc leader P K Mookiah Thevar to mark his 103rd birth anniversary. Mookiah, said Stalin, was a pillar of support to former chief minister C N Annadurai when the DMK govt took charge in 1967. “The great Anna had said Mookiah stands for justice,” remarked Stalin, amid the thumping of desks.Mookiah, known as ‘Urangapuli’ or ‘sleepless tiger’, a disciple of freedom fighter and AIFB leader U Muthuramalinga Thevar, served as the pro-tem speaker, administering the oath to newly elected MLAs. At his request, Annadurai established educational institutions for the welfare of thevar community in Kamuthi, Usilampatti and Melaneelithanallur.The episode underlined a larger political reality. In Tamil Nadu, caste-based parties have long aligned with major Dravidian parties and used those alliances to gain representation in the legislature. Some of these outfits frequently switch sides in elections and contest on the symbols — the ‘rising sun’ and the ‘two leaves’ — to increase their vote percentage. Often, it isn’t ideology that has parties switching sides, but their chances of winning.Their influence becomes especially important in multi-cornered contests, such as in the upcoming assembly election. Soon after Stalin struck an electoral deal with K K Selvakumar’s Tamilar Desam Katchi, which presents itself as a voice of the mutharaiyar community in the delta region, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami allotted the Manachanallur seat to Singa Tamilar Munnetra Kazhagam, another outfit linked to the same community, for its electoral debut.This strategy has roots in the era of M Karunanidhi and M G Ramachandran, when major parties routinely elevated leaders from dominant local communities as district functionaries, MLAs and ministers. The trend peaked under AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa, when she deployed her close aide V K Sasikala, who wielded a lot of clout in her mukkulathor community.Dravidian parties, despite their anti-brahmin ideological origins, treated non-brahmin communities as a broad political bloc even though they were far from socially equal. “Historically, most leaders backed by non-brahmin groups that were numerically dominant emerged victorious. Operating on the premise that they are empowering non-brahmins, the major parties strategically utilize this approach by projecting an image of inclusivity that embraces everyone as a tool for electoral gain,” says writer and historian Stalin Rajangam.AIFB’s history illustrates the dynamic. Under Mookiah Thevar, it allied with the DMK-led Progressive Front in the 1971 election and won seven seats in mukkulathor-dominated areas such as Andipatti, Sedapatti, Thirumangalam and Usilampatti. It later shifted to AIADMK under MGR and retained influence in Usilampatti (1977). The party continued to piggyback on Dravidian parties for electoral success.A similar trajectory can be seen with PMK. After leading the Vanniyar Sangam agitation for exclusive reservation in 1989, S Ramadoss’s PMK contested 194 seats in 1991. The party lost deposits in 165 seats, winning only Panruti through former AIADMK minister S Ramachandran. But, by aligning with the principal Dravidian parties, PMK gradually established itself in the vanniyar-dominated northern belt.The rise of PMK also opened space for other caste-based outfits. In 2001, dalit leaders Thol Thirumavalavan of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and K Krishnasamy of Puthiya Tamilagam entered the electoral arena more assertively. The DMK-led NDA alliance that year included several such outfits: Dheeran’s Tamil Pattali Makkal Katchi, Tamil Nadu Mutharaiyar Sangam, R S Raja Kannappan’s Makkal Tamil Desam Katchi, Kongunadu Makkal Katchi and A C Shanmugam’s Puthiya Needhi Katchi. Most contested on the DMK’s rising sun symbol for better prospects, but only Thirumavalavan won from the Mangalur reserved constituency. Voters rejected the DMK-BJP alliance, and PMK that aligned with Jayalalithaa, won 20 seats, emerging the fourth-largest party in the assembly.Since then, caste-based parties have remained fixtures in alliances led by DMK or AIADMK, often switching sides between elections. Smaller outfits that contested independently, such as Ambedkar Puratchikara Makkal Katchi and Puratchi Bharatham, generally failed to make an impact on their own. VCK leader D Ravikumar rejects the classification of his party as caste-based, saying it stands for the annihilation of caste. “Caste and Hindu religion are inseparable. If caste organizations thrive, it means Hindutva is strengthened. Hindutva or caste ideology transcends party limits,” says Ravikumar. “It is dangerous when caste parties thrive. It is encouraged by BJP and Sangh Parivar.”The electoral utility of these parties lies less in their independent strength and more in their inclusion in alliances, which reassure specific communities that their interests are being recognized. Their success, however, usually depends on the popularity and machinery of the larger ally. Some parties, though, have managed to carve out a niche. T R Paarivendhar’s Indhiya Jananayaka Katchi, associated with the Udayar community in Perambalur, won a Lok Sabha seat on DMK’s rising sun symbol in 2019. The party contests on BJP’s lotus symbol in two seats, including Kunnam in Perambalur, this time.Actor Karunaas’s Mukkulathor Pulipadai has gained visibility among thevar voters in Ramanathapuram. He won the Thiruvadanai seat in 2016 on the AIADMK symbol and is now contesting Sivaganga on the DMK symbol. A C Shanmugam says his Puthiya Needhi Katchi was formed because communities such as mudaliyars and pillaimars felt sidelined despite earlier representation in the govt. “We are a lineage that once ruled (Aanda Parambarai). We had ministers such as Navalar V R Nedunchezhiyan and S Madhavan in Anna and Puratchi Thalaivar (MGR)’s cabinets. However, our community was continuously sidelined later,” says Shanmugam. His party has nominated film director C Sundar in Madurai Central on the AIADMK symbol against DMK minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan. The party will also contest from the BJP quota in the AIADMK-led NDA alliance on lotus symbol.While parties such as Congress, Left, MDMK, VCK, Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi, IUML and other Muslim outfits have stayed with DMK since 2021, the AIADMK alliance includes PMK, Tamizhaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, Puratchi Bharatham and Perunthalaivar Makkal Katchi, representing vanniyars, devendrakula vellalars, dalits and nadars. Dravidar Kazhagam leader K Veeramani says that in a state known to be the “cradle of social justice”, the principle of which is the eradication of discrimination, parties are using caste to win votes. “It won’t last long. These parties are like people who sell mosquito repellants. For them, the more the mosquitoes, the more the sales. Formula of social engineering will not be successful in the Periyar land that is Tamil Nadu. People can distinguish between social justice and a casteist approach.”SWITCH BAIT