Tamil Nadu Election 2021: In star-studded politics of Tamil Nadu is a name — the Naam Tamilar Katchi — quietly expanding its base in the state largely divided into two electoral blocks – DMK and AIADMK. While a majority of votes may possibly revolve about two dominant parties that have been when headed by two titans — M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalitha — smaller sized parties kept sprouting up in the state in the presence of a political vacuum. However, there is one stark distinction among the parties — TTV Dhinakaran’s AMMK, Kamal Haasan’s MNM — that came up lately and the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK). While the formers, maintaining political arithmetic in thoughts, allied with other individuals, NTK headed by Seeman in no way joined any alliance no matter which way the wind was blowing. This time also, Seeman has fielded candidates in all the 234 constituencies of Tamil Nadu. Once follower of the Periyar ideology and atheism, Seeman now talks about Tamil nationalism. His posters with vibhooti on the forehead, his temple visits and the sharp bend towards a puritan Tamil identity has earned him the title of – ‘Bal Thackeray of Tamil Nadu’.
Seeman’s NTK expanded its base from 1 per cent in 2016 to 4 per cent in 2019. In 2016 assembly election, the NTK’s total votes have been 460,089 which went up to 16,45,222 in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It, on the other hand, did not win any seat in either of of the elections. Speaking on his candidates in the assembly polls, Seeman told that his leaders do not will need to commit more than Rs 2 or 3 lakh each and every. The NTK, he stated, raises funds from folks and it has got Rs 15 lakh from crowdsourcing. He additional stated that his candidates have been folks who have been denied a space in common politics. Fifty per cent candidates of NTK are females, 13 Muslims, 55 Dalits and one Brahmin.
Opinion poll surveys predict an edge for MK Stalin-led DMK, which is taking on ruling AIADMK-BJP. Seeman was when regarded close to M Karunanidhi (in his early days) and J Jayalalithaa. Seeman tells IE that the NTK in no way believed of aligning with either the DMK or AIADMK, or even the newer parties of Dhinakaran or Kamal Haasan. He says he required absolute freedom to fight for the freedom of weaker sections and if he joins hands with the strong parties then it wouldn’t be useful to the poor. “My aim is not to make Kamal or TTV the Chief Minister,” he tells IE.
On the BJP attempting to expand in Tamil Nadu, Seeman says that the saffron party would not even be in the state if Jayalalithaa was alive and it would nevertheless get nowhere. The BJP, he says, will have to ride piggyback on the AIADMK. “They are the biggest party in India, why don’t they contest alone like I do?” he asks. “Hindutva ideology is not in our genes. We have been fighting them for about 3,000 years, from the time of Nedunjcheliyan I (a Pandya king) and Cheran Senguttuvan (a popular Chera ruler from the Sangam age). So Narendra Modi’s lotus cannot bloom here. Even if Nadda (BJP chief) makes 100 visits to Tamil Nadu, their votes will be below NOTA,” Seeman tells IE.