Highlights – 

  • BJP made a strategy to make inroads in Tamil Nadu from Varanasi
  • Message to break the language barrier from the stage of Kashi Tamil Sangamam
  • Attempt to strengthen its position through religious unity
  • BJP’s strategy is working in the cut off Congress’s politics

The Kashi Tamil Sangamam program came to an end in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived at the closing ceremony. The meaning of what he said gives an indication of future politics. Amit Shah said that after independence such a time came when there was an attempt to poison the cultural unity of the country. Now the time has come to create Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat. This can be possible only with the cultural unity of India. In this the role of programs like Kasi Tamil Sangamam becomes important. The Union Home Minister said that for a long time there was no attempt to connect the cultures of the country. Now this program has been organized. Union Home Minister was saying those things of PM Narendra Modi, Which he was saying on the occasion of the inauguration of this program. The PM had spoken about the previous governments not making efforts to unite the society divided on linguistic basis. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended the programme. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar came. Apart from him, many ministers and MPs from Dharmendra Pradhan to Mansukh Mandaviya reached here. The message was clear that to give the message of unity among the people. On the one hand, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi is starting the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu to Kashmir. At the same time, BJP has used a new experiment of cultural unity to connect Tamil Nadu and North India. In response to a Rahul Gandhi, BJP has tried to take its message to every village of Tamil Nadu through 2500 Tamil yatris. The BJP has made a new experiment of cultural integrationism to connect Tamil Nadu and North India. In response to a Rahul Gandhi, BJP has tried to take its message to every village of Tamil Nadu through 2500 Tamil yatris. The BJP has made a new experiment of cultural integrationism to connect Tamil Nadu and North India. In response to a Rahul Gandhi, BJP has tried to take its message to every village of Tamil Nadu through 2500 Tamil yatris. The BJP has made a new experiment of cultural integrationism to connect Tamil Nadu and North India. In response to a Rahul Gandhi, BJP has tried to take its message to every village of Tamil Nadu through 2500 Tamil yatris. The BJP has made a new experiment of cultural integrationism to connect Tamil Nadu and North India. In response to a Rahul Gandhi, BJP has tried to take its message to every village of Tamil Nadu through 2500 Tamil yatris. The BJP has made a new experiment of cultural integrationism to connect Tamil Nadu and North India. In response to a Rahul Gandhi, BJP has tried to take its message to every village of Tamil Nadu through 2500 Tamil yatris. The BJP has made a new experiment of cultural integrationism to connect Tamil Nadu and North India. In response to a Rahul Gandhi, BJP has tried to take its message to every village of Tamil Nadu through 2500 Tamil yatris.

What was Kashi Tamil Sangamam?

The Kashi Tamil Sangamam program has been organized by the Union Ministry of Education. Although the purpose of this program has been said to rediscover the age-old bond of knowledge, ancient civilization and relations between Varanasi and Tamil Nadu and to initiate cultural exchange. but, It also has political meaning. Kashi Tamil Sangamam is being organized just before the Lok Sabha elections to be held in the country. The Narendra Modi government at the Center seems to be trying to bridge the divide between North and South through this programme. In recent times, the way the cultural differences between the South and the North have been mixed with the acceptance of films. South industry films are now becoming pan India. The South has demonstrated a cultural and social pattern. In that situation, even the dominant BJP in the north seems to be trying to become pan India. After courting South Indian actors, the Bharatiya Janata Party now wants to strengthen its position on the religious ground there.

One of the major objectives of the Kashi Tamil Sangam has been to showcase to the world the link between Baba Vishwanath of Kashi and Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu. This relation is centuries old. In such a situation, two big national parties standing on the margins in the politics of South have been seen making efforts. Congress through Bharat Jodo Yatra. Through BJP Kashi Tamil Sangamam.

About 2500 people saw the shade of Kashi

The Kashi Tamil Sangam program brought a group of 210 people from different parts of Tamil Nadu to Kashi for 8 days. This program was organized after the construction of Kashi Vishwanath Corridor. Due to this, efforts have been made to take the grandeur of Kashi to the villages of Tamil Nadu and make it a topic of discussion. Mouth publicity is important in politics. PM Narendra Modi is the MP from here. In such a situation, they will definitely get the credit for their work. However, under the Kashi Tamil Sangamam programme, about 2500 people reached in about 12 groups. Trains were run regularly from Rameshwaram, Chennai, Coimbatore. Special coaches were fitted in the trains. The celebrities who reached during the program increased the atmosphere of discussion among the common people.

What is Kashi-Tamil relation?

A question may arise in your mind that what is the relation between Kashi and Tamil Nadu, for which a program like Sangamam was organized. According to historians, Varanasi has been mentioned in the inscriptions of the Chola period. Kashi Vishwanath and Vishalakshi temples are found at many places in Tamil Nadu. There is also a city named Kashi in Tamil Nadu. At the same time, a large number of Tamil people come and live in Kashi. Recently, a Tamil member has also been entered in the board of Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Similarly, a large number of people also go to Rameswaram from Kashi. Meaning, the period of religious visits goes on between the two cities. This is not happening in the present time, it has been happening since ancient times. In the 17th century the Saivite poet Kumaraguruparar came to Kashi from Tamil Nadu. Here he built a monastery. After building the Math, he went back to Thanjavur district. A monastery was built there. People still know that Math by the name of Kashi Math.

What has been the reason for the dispute?

Dravidian politics started in Tamil Nadu after Hindi protests. Dravidian politics has been raising the issue of Tamil language in a big way. There was a lot of protest against the Kashi Tamil Sangam in the past. Because of this, the program was seen as an attempt to establish Hindi in Tamil Nadu. However, while inaugurating the Kashi Tamil Sangamam programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi put an end to all those controversies. He said that Tamil language is one of the ancient languages ​​of the world. We are proud of that. Work should be done for its development. Everyone should know about him. In the Kashi Tamil Sangamam event, the people of Kashi not only saw but also lived the culture of Tamil Nadu.

PM Modi had said in the inauguration ceremony that after independence in the country, no attempt was made to erase the distinction between North and South. Such an event would serve to bridge the gap between the North and the South. It is clear that he is looking beyond politics to divide the issue between North and South on linguistic lines. Along with trying to win hearts, this effort is also being considered to establish BJP in Tamil Nadu politics.

Congress is also trying

Out of power in the country since 2014, Rahul Gandhi, the former president of the Congress party, set out on the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Recently, 100 days of his Bharat Jodo Yatra have been completed. He started his India Jodo journey from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. His program in Tamil Nadu was for 18 to 20 days. On September 7, Rahul Gandhi started the yatra from Kanyakumari. After that it was believed that Congress would strengthen its position in Tamil Nadu. The Central Government’s Kashi Tamil Sangamam program has been organized as soon as he left Tamil Nadu. National parties have not been able to get any significant success in the politics of Tamil Nadu for the last almost six decades. Dravidian politics dominates. DMK and AIADMK have been transferring power from time to time.

Amidst all this, both the national parties seem to be trying to hold onto this political ground ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Rahul Gandhi spent a good amount of time in Tamil Nadu in the past days under the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Gave a message to the people to join the party. At the same time, the Modi government started working on a different strategy by bringing Tamil Nadu itself to Kashi. Preparations are on to take the message of the program to every village in Tamil Nadu.

All parties have been marginalized

The way politics has been happening between DMK and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu politics. In that, other political parties have not achieved any major milestone so far. Actors like Kamal Haasan contested the Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2021 by forming their own party, but could not win. In the 2021 assembly elections, the Congress was part of the secular progressive alliance led by the DMK. The DMK contested 173 of the 234-member assembly seats. The Congress got 25 seats. Similar was the condition of the BJP leading the NDA at the national level. The NDA was led by the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. AIADMK contested on 179 seats. PMK was given 23 seats. BJP contested on 20 seats. In terms of vote percentage, the Secular Progressive Alliance secured 45.38 per cent and the NDA secured 39.72 per cent vote share.

The Secular Progressive Alliance won 159 seats. At the same time, NDA was able to win 75 seats. If we look at the performance of the two national parties, we will find that the Congress has won 18 seats. In the 2016 assembly elections, the Congress was limited to 8 seats. In this context, there was an advantage of 10 seats. Whereas, BJP won 4 seats. The BJP did not get any seat in the 2016 assembly elections. In terms of total vote share, the DMK secured 37.70 per cent vote share, while the Congress got 4.27 per cent vote share. Whereas, NDA’s AIADMK got 33.29 per cent and BJP got 2.6 per cent vote share.

Trying to target the Hindu population of Tamil Nadu

Through Kashi Tamil Sangamam, BJP seems to be trying to win over the Hindu vote bank. Hinduism is the biggest religion in Tamil Nadu. Here 87.58 percent of the population believes in Hinduism. Hinduism is the majority religion in all 32 districts of the state. According to the 2011 census, about 6.31 crore of Tamil Nadu’s population of 7.21 crore were Hindus. At the same time, the population of Muslims was about 42 lakhs and that of Christians was about 44 lakhs. However, the Hindu section of Tamil Nadu has been considering the issue of Tamil identity as the most important. In such a situation, efforts are now being made to awaken religious sentiments. The attempt to bind the North with the South through religious programs and cultural alliances seems to be happening through the Tamil Kashi Tamil Sangam.

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