Contemporary Tamil Politics in India

What is it about?

This paper attempts to revisit the populist politics of Tamil Nadu. Tamil politics in India has an enduring characteristic of a sub-nationalist orientation which, sometimes, bares with the populist mobilization by the political parties of Tamil Nadu. Recently, the working president of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), one of the prominent political parties of Tamil Nadu, recycles the issue of Dravida Nadu, a hypothetical land for the Tamils own based on their ethnonational identity, which had been dropped almost fifty-five years ago. Dravida Nadu highlights the linguistic, cultural and ethnonational resistance against north-India dominated pan-Indian nationalism. Cauvery water dispute, debate over jallikattu, anti-Hindi stance, and protest against the terms of reference of the Fifteenth Finance Commission are the signs of anticentre campaign in Tamil politics. These are being used not only for safeguarding the Tamil cultural nationalism but for mobilizing the people in electoral combat zone in Tamil Nadu.

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Why is it important?

Recently, the working president of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), one of the prominent political parties of Tamil Nadu, recycles the issue of Dravida Nadu, a hypothetical land for the Tamils own based on their ethnonational identity, which had been dropped almost fifty-five years ago.

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