#Thoothukudi: Amit Shah brings up Pulwama but the anger against BJP is palpable

In the coastal city of Tamil Nadu, memories of the Sterlite agitation are still fresh.

WrittenBy:Karthikeyan Hemalatha
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A fisherman from Thoothukudi, Jesubalan never cared much for politics or elections. Owning a small country boat, his life didn’t go beyond the sea, the fish he caught, his four children, and his beloved wife.

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Things changed on May 22, 2018. Jesubalan’s wife Jhansi was shot dead by the Tamil Nadu police when they opened fire on an unarmed crowd of 20,000 people protesting the expansion of the Sterlite plant. Thirteen people were killed, including Jhansi.

Jesubalan’s interest in politics spiked straight from indifference to rage.

“She was on her way to her sister’s house to give some gravy and was not involved in the protests in any way. My house is at least 13 km from the protest site,” he told Newslaundry. After an hour passed and his wife did not return, he went searching for her. That’s when he learned that the policemen who shot Jhansi had wrapped her body in a flex banner and taken it away before crowds could gather. When Jayabalan reached the spot where she had been shot, only his wife’s brains remained, splattered on the street.

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Jesubalan with a photo of his wife.

He says, “I have never been interested in politics, neither do I watch TV or read newspapers. But now I am, and I know that the people of my town have neither forgotten nor forgiven the shootout and the politicians behind it.”

Thoothukudi is a coastal city in Tamil Nadu, where the sea breeze helps in flushing out air pollutants. It’s also the only town in the state to figure in the list of top 100 cities put out by the Union Ministry of Environments, Forests and Climate Change where air quality parameters are several times higher than prescribed norms. This brings us to this particular protest, which lasted 100 days, opposing the Sterlite plant’s expansion as the town was already being choked by its emissions—which culminated in the events of May 22.

Having received no assurances from the State, protestors marched to the collector’s office. That’s when the police opened fire.

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Tamilisai Soundararajan making an impassioned speech in Thoothukudi.

In the aftermath of the shooting, Thoothukudi will be closely watched as two high-profile candidates—MK Kanimozhi from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s state unit president Tamilisai Soundararajan—go head to head. For Kanimozhi, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP and the daughter of former chief minister M Karunanidhi this is her first foray into direct election. Meanwhile, it’s Soundararajan’s fourth attempt: she’s unsuccessfully contested in two state Assembly elections and one parliament election in the past.

Soundararajan’s constant companions on her election rallies are groups of protestors who make it a point to shout slogans against her. “This election will be our avenue to show our anger against the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and BJP,” says fisherman Maria Raja Bose Raegan. He was barely 50 m from the police shootout. Jesubalan agrees; he says he doesn’t know how the AIADMK and BJP have the “audacity” to campaign in Thoothukudi after last year’s event.

Perhaps it’s this fear that pushed the BJP to form its own grand alliance in the state, joining hands with the AIADMK and a host of others. Yet across the country, Narendra Modi will have you believe that the BJP is the better party, as it isn’t part of a large coalition of Mahagathbandhan. In Delhi on March 31, Modi took a dig at regional coalitions, saying, “When I was made a prime ministerial candidate, there was a queue for the PM’s post in 2014. Many wanted to become prime minister. The queue has got a bit longer in 2019.”

But this may not be how the wind blows for the party in Tamil Nadu. And the anger against it, both at the Centre and state, is palpable.

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Flags of different parties allying with the BJP and AIADMK.

In Thoothukudi, however, things are different. A sea of flags of different colours and hues welcomed supporters to the roadshows, signaling the deluge of parties that the AIADMK and BJP were allying with. From 2011’s Opposition leader Vijayakanth’s Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam to caste-driven parties like Pattali Makkal Katchi to little known parties like actor Karthik’s Ahila India Naadalum Makkal Katchi—the BJP has tapped into parties of every size in Thoothukudi.

Meanwhile, the DMK is leading the “Madhacharbatra Murpokku Kootani” or Secular Progressive Alliance, contesting with a wide range of parties including the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, Communist Party of India, and Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Just a few kilometres from Jesubalan’s house, the stage for the AIADMK-BJP alliance is set. It’s early April and a large pandal has been erected, with villagers from across Thoothukudi district arriving in vans to attend the campaign rally. The BJP has pulled out its big guns. Alliance members take the stage in turn, many of them focusing on corruption by the DMK. Tamil Nadu chief minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami reads out a long list of bridges and roads the state government has built along with the costs.

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Amit Shah preparing for a photo op at his Thoothukudi rally.

The crowd is largely silent—till they hear the whirr of a helicopter. The helicopter descends adjacent to the podium, kicking up clouds of dust and blocking everyone’s view. From the dust emerges BJP party president Amit Shah who quickly gets into a massive SUV which will navigate the 50-metre path to the podium. The SUV is flanked by gun-toting security personnel in Army gear.

It’s all new for the villagers of Thoothukudi as they wake from the slumber that summer brings in.

But their interest is short-lived as Amit Shah begins his speech in Hindi, aided by a questionable translator. He talks about the Pulwama attack and the local deity, Lord Muruga, and mentions a host of Tamil names: MG Ramachandran, J Jayalalithaa, “son of the soil” Abhinandan Varthaman, defense minister Nirmala Sitharaman. He says: “I would like to start my speech by remembering, two Tamil Nadu jawans who lost their lives in the Pulwama attacks: Subramaniamji, who was from Thoothukudi, and C Sivachandran. I would also like to remember Wing Commander Abhinandan who shot down Pakistan’s F-16.”

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Leaders of parties belonging to the AIADMK-BJP alliance putting up a united front.

Neither Shah nor Palanisami—or any members of the alliance, for that matter—mentioned the word “Sterlite”. But on the same day, DMK’s Kanimozhi made it in the fulcrum of her first roadshow in Thoothukudi, standing in an open jeep just outside New Bus Stand. She told onlookers the Centre has forgotten Tamil Nadu. “When 13 people died, no one came here. No one asked questions. For all the injustice that happened here, no one expressed their grief. But now they come and tell us that they will bring bullet trains, will bring development plans. Till now, they didn’t know that a town called Thoothukudi exists. We need to vote against such an opportunistic party.”

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Kanimozhi’s first roadshow in Thoothukudi.

This clearly annoyed the AIADMK because on April 8, they sent the Election Commission a complaint, saying the DMK was running ads on party-owned Sun TV and Kalaignar TV that showed video clippings recorded during the riots. The complaint read: “…they were shown the firing clips, dead bodies of the victims, and the rally of the mob gatherings, it is purely violation of model code of conduct and as against the court of law and also illegal methods of luring and enticing the Voters and General public against the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and AIADMK party (sic).”

Irony went out on the window as the letter continued: “I would like to bring your kind attention the Election Commission of India had already clearly issued a wide circulation to all political parties to all over the Country that the political parties should not use the Pulvama Terrorist attacks Photos, Mr. Abhinandhan photo for their election campaign. (sic).” One can only wonder if Amit Shah got the memo.

But away from the political spectacle, Jesubalan has now reduced the number of days he goes fishing in order to take care of children. “I was never a political person. But with this incident, I am forced to be one. Anyone can come to power—except BJP.”

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