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Ethnicity and Populism in Indian Regional Politics

A broad comparison of political mobilization between Assam and Tamil Nadu

 

Introduction

 

A starting point for this comparison is a phenomenon called ‘ethnicity’, which can be used “…to discuss similar trends in very different places, but it is also unsatisfactory (Manor 1996, 459). The use of the term ‘ethnicity’ can be quite problematic, as it can refer to all kinds of factors that can be used to portray a group as cohesive. However this essay will not discuss this concept in detail, but rather how people can be mobilized in politics. In order to understand this in the context of state politics in Assam, a brief comparison will be made with state politics in Tamil Nadu. Ethnicity or religious identity seems to have played an important role in mobilization and violence during the 2014 Lok Sabha election in Assam (Saikia 2015, 211), while welfare for the people and caste identity may have played a more important role in Tamil Nadu’s regional elections (Wyatt 2013, 377). This essay will in general discuss the differences and similarities between voter mobilizations in these two states. The general question is why regional parties in Assam have declined and the BJP has become strong, why regional parties in Tamil Nadu have continued to remain strong.

 

 

Ethnic Identity in Politics

 

The regional party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has gained 37 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, while an alliance of Pattali Makal Katchi (PMK) and the Bharata Janata Party (BJP) only gained both two seats in Tamil Nadu.1 At the same time regional parties in Assam, a region in the North – East of India, were decimated by the BJP. Traditional regional parties in this region like Asom Ghana Parishad (AGP) got no votes in the parliament, while the BJP got 7 compared to the AIUDF with 3, INC 3 (Indian National Congress) and IND 1.2 A starting point in understanding why this occurred, can be done by looking briefly to the political history of these regions and the role of ethnicity in political mobilization.

 

According to Manor the use of the term ethnicity can refer to five different identities: religion, languages, (scheduled) tribal identities, North – Eastern or Himalayan tribal identities, as well as Aryan and Dravidian identities (Manor 1996, 461 – 462). At the same time, when writing about the BJP’s gains in Assam, Saikia talks about ethnic conflict in the state of Assam based on the types as described by Manor (Saikia 2015, 78). Although she is right in pointing out the fluidity of identities, she wrongly quotes Manor in saying that he sees caste as an ethnic identity. Manor clearly makes a distinction between ethnic affiliations and the “…tendency of most people there [in India] to shift their preoccupations from one identity to another, frequently and with great fluidity (Manor 1996, 463)”. These identities crosscut along multiple lines in India and therefore, according to Manor, there’s no “… prolonged and intractable conflict (Manor 1996, 463)”. However Saikia tries to show that in contemporary politics, based on her analysis of the BJP victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, there is a rise of a “…politicization of multiple ethnicities (Saikia 2015, 78)”.

 

Religious Identity as a base for the BJP in Assam

 

During the previous Lok Sabha elections of 2014, the BJP achieved a major victory in this state. Other political parties like the Congress party and the Asom Ghana Parsishad (AGP) lost heavily in these elections, of which the AGP was even completely decimated (Saikia 2015, 70). The AGP and the Congress party were defeated by the BJP, because this party was able to draw votes from different communities that were traditionally the base of the AGP and the Congress party. At the same time Muslim votes have mostly gone to the Congress and the AGP, while Hindus from different backgrounds have voted largely for the BJP. BJP has done this by making a strong division between ‘legal’ Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh, while marking the Muslims as infiltrators from Bangladesh (Saikia 2015, 77). In this way an ethnic identity, religion, has been used for political mobilization. This is one reason for the success of the BJP in Assam, at the cost of regional parties.

 

Populism in Tamil Nadu

 

Politics in Tamil Nadu are more characterized by the presence of two strong regional parties, namely the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All – India Anna DMK (AIADMK). Both parties claim to speak for the “… people of the state (Wyatt 2013, 365)”, but it always stays unclear who these people are. According to Wyatt: “The political culture of Tamil Nadu is heavily influenced by notions of Dravidian-ness (Wyatt 2013, 366). Both parties, namely the DMK and the AIADMK, seem to draw on this. Wyatt sees them as populist parties, on the base of the following definition: “…referring to an ideological construct that celebrates the importance of the people as an undivided group (Wyatt 2013, 365).

 

Comparison

 

Most interestingly it seems that both parties in Tamil Nadu, namely the DMK and the AIADMK, draw on Dravidian or Tamil affiliations. Just as the DMK, the AIADMK claims to speak for the Tamil people (Wyatt 2013, 374). It’s a debate about who really speaks for the people for the state. But because both parties use this populist claim for authority, they mostly tried to draw on lower status groups or economic welfare for certain groups. This also led to the PMK who has drawn on the Vanniar – caste vote since 1991 and questioned the idea that the other two parties spoke for the Tamil people (Wyatt 2013, 370). In the parliamentary elections of 2014 the AIADMK has become the biggest party in power, despite the alliance with the PMK which is sometimes seen as an alternative for the Dravidian parties DMK and AIADMK.1 The reason seems to stay somewhat unknown, but it may has something to do with the populist appeal and the ability of the AIADMK to outbid the DMK on welfare provision in 2011 (Wyatt 2013, 366).

 

In Assam votes are far more divided, but also here social groups have aligned themselves more with political parties (Saikia 2015, 69). However there seems to be a sharper divide between Muslims and Hindus in the region of Assam, which is used in politics. Caste stills seems to play a role, as well as linguistic minorities as an important base for the Congress party (Saikia 2015, 71). However due to the rise of parties like the AIUDF and its pull towards Muslim votes, has led to a waning of the Congress.

 

 

Literature

 

Manor, J. 1996. ‘Ethnicity’ and Politics in India. International Affairs 72 (3): 459 – 475.

 

Saikia, S. 2015. General Elections 2014: ethnic outbidding and politics of ‘homelands’ in Assam’s Bodoland. Contemporary South Asia 23 (2): 211 – 222.

 

Saikia, S. 2015. General Election 2014: Will BJP’s Gains Polarize Assam Further? Studies in Indian Politics 3(1): 69 – 80.

 

Suan Hausing, K. K. 2015. Framing the North – East in Indian Politics: Beyond the Integration Framework. Studies in Indian Politics 3 (2): 277 – 283.

 

Wyatt, A. 2013. Populism and politics in contemporary Tamil Nadu. Contemporary South Asia 21 (4): 365 – 381.

 

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/pmk-an-alternative-to-dravidian-parties/article5530242.ece accessed March 24th 2016.

 

http://www.mapsofindia.com/parliamentaryconstituencies/tamilnadu/general-election-results.html; accessed March 24th 2016.

 

http://www.mapsofindia.com/parliamentaryconstituencies/assam/general-election-results.html ; accessed March 24th 2016.