In a surprise move, Tamil Nadu BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan was appointed the Governor of Telengana on Sunday. The announcement came from the President’s office, along with the change of Governors in Maharashtra, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh.
Minutes after the announcement, the Tamil Nadu BJP headquarters at T Nagar in Chennai turned into a celebration mood. Soundararajan was all in smiles and expressed her gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. The BJP cadres called it as a reward by the party high command in recognition of her hard work.
“That the BJP recognises hard work has been proved once again by our Prime Minister Modi and party president Amit Shah. Except for putting in my hard work, I have not done anything else for the party. This is proved with the 43 lakh members who have joined the party. I have been given an opportunity by my party leaders, irrespective of my age. I dedicate this to all my party colleagues, all party members, the people of Tamil Nadu and my parents,” Soundararajan told the media.
Even as the BJP cadres rejoice over her elevation as Governor, for Soundararajan, the political career almost seems to get over after this appointment. The 58-year-old leader, during several TV interviews and media interactions, had always expressed her ambitions of being a minister and then the chief minister. She always wanted to be in electoral politics.
Soundararajan has contested in two assembly elections and two parliamentary elections. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, she gave a tough fight to DMK’s Kanimozhi from Thoothukudi constituency. Apparently, Soundararajan is still working among the villagers in the Toothukudi constituency.
Hailing from a humble background, where her entire family was in the Congress, Soundararajan has put in her hard work for more than 15 years in the BJP, to be elevated as the party president. Despite several criticisms from within and outside the party for not steering it to an electoral victory, Soundararajan proved herself to be a leader. Trolls and memes on social media over her statements at times never stopped her. However, with Soundararajan being moved out, the floor is now thrown open for a new BJP president in Tamil Nadu. Apparently, her term as the party president gets over in December.
Revamp on the cards?
When the entire country celebrated the BJP’s victory in the Lok Sabha elections on May 23, there was complete discomfort in its Tamil Nadu unit. The party had lost in all the five seats it contested and not even its alliance partners could get into the Parliament except for a lone MP from the Theni constituency.
In a party, which is already witnessing infighting in the hands of several power centres, Soundararajan being moved out only signals the first step towards a restructure. According to highly placed sources in the party, even releasing list of the party spokespersons to take part in TV debates is a challenging task in Tamil Nadu BJP. The sources pointed out at the hurdles Soundararajan faced in the last few weeks before she could release the list recently.
The political observers look at the appointment of Soundararajan as Governor as the first step towards revamping the party in the state. For the BJP, which has a strong vote share even in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu has always been challenging, and one reason for this was the infighting. Moreover, unlike other states, in Tamil Nadu the BJP is always looked at as a party subjugated by a dominant community. When Soundararajan was made the party president in the state, political observers deemed it as a recognition for a person from a non-Brahmin community.
“It is surprising that a person like Dr Tamilisai, a qualified medical doctor, hailing from a backward community has been shunted out by the party high command, as the Governor of a neighbouring state. As far as politics is concerned, she has at least 15 years of good political life ahead of her. Suddenly she has been lifted out of the state BJP and posted as a Governor. At a time when the BJP has retained its power in the Centre with a brutal majority, appointment of one of its state leaders as a Governor, especially when that person is hailing from a state where the party’s strength is abysmally low, has risen the eyebrows of political observers. it is clear that the BJP high command wants to redraw the political equations within the party,” said senior journalist R. Mani.
With Soundararajan being moved out, the race for the president post has already begun. Several names including that of national general secretary H. Raja, who lost from Sivaganga against Karti P. Chidambaram, Pon Radhakrsihan, who was the minister of state for shipping in previous Modi government, C.P. Radhakrsihnan, who lost from Coimbatore against CPI (M)’s P.R. Natarajan and Nainar Nagendran, who was once a minister in Jayalalithaa’s cabinet and part of the AIADMK, are doing the rounds. However, the surprise is all set to end before December, as Soundararajan’s term gets over by then.
