Tamil Nadu BJP unit ready with strategy ahead of Amit Shah's maiden visit

CHENNAI: Days ahead of BJP president Amit Shah's first meeting in Chennai, the party's state unit claims to have its strategy ready for Tamil Nadu.

And the big plan is to ignore the "blind" AIADMK and DMK supporters who would be hard to win over and focus on the people who are eligible to vote but do not turn up to vote. According to the BJP, these "non-voters" total more than 2 crore, or 40 per cent of Tamil Nadu's electorate.

"These 40 per cent non-voters understand Tamil Nadu politics; they debate and discuss it but they will not come out and vote. This is the category of voters that understands when we raise issues that are serious problems in the state, including poor roads, free flow of booze and freebies," Tamilisai Soundararajan, BJP's state president, told ET. "We will consistently woo this informed vote bank and we have begun the groundwork already. I have just completed a tour of all districts across Tamil Nadu and the interest generated has been great."

Stating that she will not waste her time in trying to influence the vote bank of the AIADMK and the DMK, Soundararajan said: "There is an unshakable support base for them. But the people in their support base do not know the difference between bail and jail."

She said apart from those who don't vote, another 20 per cent makes a decision only in the last minute. "These are voters who will wait till the last minute and finally vote either for the DMK or the AIADMK depending on who they think will perform better. We will try and woo these voters too. There is a chance that this category will understand the importance of developmentoriented politics."

The Dravidian parties aren't very impressed with the BJP strategy. DMK spokesman and party organising secretary TKS Elangovan said the BJP has got its numbers wrong. "The DMK and AIADMK's combined vote share has always been around 60-70 per cent in Tamil Nadu. There is no question of 40 per cent voters or non-voters outside this support base. Even if the BJP wants to woo people outside our support base, it is going to be a big task for them."

The combined DMKAIADMK vote share in the state was more than 60 per cent in the 2011 assembly elections and 70 per cent five years earlier. Tamil Nadu's "nonvoters" have averaged around 20 per cent in the last two elections, just about half of what the state BJP chief has claimed. Political analysts say if there was any chance for the BJP to look for a foothold in Tamil Nadu, then the time is right.

"People are clearly disappointed with both the DMK and the AIADMK in not taking up issues at the national level. The Dravidian party leaders are only sending statements and Tamil Nadu is not seen as a state that has a national presence anymore. The BJP may try to make use of the silence in the DMK and AIADMK camp," senior journalist and political analyst T Sigamani said. "But, the question is how can BJP capitalise on it in this state where it has absolutely no presence at the grassroots level?"