Will NTK's fist-clenching Seeman storm into Assembly?

There is a general criticism that Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), which takes on the DMK ideologically, the Congress racially, and the BJP from the perspective of principles, always spares the ruling AIADMK.

Hyderabad (Telangana): With the two major Dravidian parties – DMK and AIADMK – dwarfing all parties in Tamil Nadu and alternately ruling the State for the past 24 years, smaller parties are always aligning with either of the two majors. However, among the so-called smaller parties, the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), floated on the plank of Tamil nationalism and fully under the control of Seeman, erstwhile film director, has been cultivating a strong base of followers throughout Tamil Nadu. Its first conference was conducted in Madurai on May 18, 2009.

There are youths in large numbers behind him, showering their praises on him and treating him as their elder brother and guide even as he has been proclaiming in a thundering and booming voice that he is out to eliminate the Dravidian parties which he holds responsible for the Eelam genocide.

His detractors allege that he has crafted and floated an attractive and glorious image about himself, always flaunting a photo showing him in the company of the LTTE leader Prabhakaran and through that image, he has been attracting droves of followers, most of them young. Refuting the accusation, his supporters say that Seeman has taken Prabhakaran to the present generation, which may not have known much about the crusader of Tamil Eelam and consequently, created a strong, youthful support base.

Seeman’s admirers point to the already historically proven fact that a party, which goes down well with youths in droves and wins their vote bank, can withstand the onslaughts of time and become a force to reckon with in the political arena. They cite the classic example of the DMK, which caught the fancy of tens and thousands of youths during the 1965 anti-Hindi agitation and ultimately, with their support, ascended the throne in Tamil Nadu in 1967.

Political analysts attribute his supporters’ rock-solid faith in his leadership to his practice of going it alone in the elections. As done in the past elections, in the 2021 Assembly elections (scheduled for April 6) too, Seeman has refused to ally with either of the Dravidian majors – DMK and AIADMK – and is facing the elections alone.

Seeman is also confronted with the strident criticism that he is a rabble-rouser, instigating an emotional conflagration among the youths, he himself roaming about and appearing on the stage as a volcano of emotions.

That the film director-turned-politician has been using the picture of Prabhakaran, leader of a banned outfit, in the public domain is liable to attract legal action against him. But no case has so far been registered against him on this count. The reason for this is, his critics allege, that he has a secret truck with the ruling party in the State (AIADMK) and at the Centre (BJP).

Way back in 2011, Seeman’s NTK boycotted the Assembly elections. Yet in all constituencies, he went on the campaign trail against Congress. He was also telling the voters that if the ‘leaves’ (AIADMK’s ‘Two Leaves’ symbol) bloom, Eelam will blossom.

Subsequently, the NTK for the first time jumped into the fray in the 2016 Assembly elections and recorded 1.1 per cent votes. Similarly, in the 2019 parliamentary elections, his party recorded 4 per cent of votes and in the local body elections, 10 per cent votes.

There is a general criticism that Seeman’s Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), which takes on the DMK ideologically, the Congress racially, and the BJP from the perspective of principles, always spares the ruling AIADMK.

But the NTK activists say that they are against the Dravidian ideology. “Since the AIADMK has the Dravidian ideology only for namesake, we treat the DMK as our enemy and oppose it,” they affirm.

It is the DMK’ accusation that Seeman’s recent meeting with Sasikala, erstwhile friend of former Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo J.Jayalalithaa, who was released after imprisonment in the wealth case, shows in no mistakable term who is his real enemy against whom he has been carrying on the battle of bitter politics.

Seeman, always put on the backfoot and surrounded by controversy after controversy, has often said that Prabhakaran had once given him a feast with the cooked meat of turtle. This has triggered a debate about the authenticity of the claim. He is also accused of promoting Tamil racial sovereignty and having no inclination to protect the minorities.

However, the NTK camp has refuted the charge, saying that the party has fielded candidates in the current elections from the religious and linguistic minorities and given 50 per cent seats to women.

It is an irony that the NTK, which respects women by giving them 50 cent seats to contest the elections, has its Peravoorani candidate Dilipan criticizing the DMK plan to provide napkins to women.

Similarly, Seeman was saying that only Stalin could decide the constituency where he (Seeman) could contest from and that if Stalin chose to contest from Kolathur, he would also be in the fray there to take on Stalin. But now he has filed nomination papers in Tiruvottriyur.

Asked about the change of his decision, Seeman told media, “To fight against the Adani harbour expansion plan, I am contesting from Tiruvottriyur.” But no one could understand what that issue had to do with his contest from that constituency.

Thus, there are several controversies and accusations against Seeman and his party NTK. Yet he has been entirely focusing on taking the party on the trajectory of progress.

Vinoth, Aranthangi, office-bearer of the party, talking to the ETV Bharat, said, “It is well known that the Dravidian parties have been looting the State for the past 50 years. The NTK is the only party continuously fighting it out to protect the State from further looting. We are the tigers set to hunt down the jackals. It is a war between the Dravidian ideology and the Tamil nationalism.”

The NTK’s media coordinator Idumpavanam Karthick said, “The NTK was floated only to take on the Dravidian parties. So, we will never ally with either of them. Time will come when we will form the government, going it alone in the elections.”

The NTK, which has been clenching its fists and flexing its muscles, proclaiming its commitment to its principles of Tamil nationalism, has been jacking up its vote bank despite all rows over several issues.

Will it ultimately scale greater heights, earning the goodwill of the voters and translating it into a massive rock-solid vote bank? Politics being an arena of uncertainties, incredible events, changing colours and shifting scenes, only time has an answer.