The slippery slope of Sanatana Dharma

The diverse responses to Udhayanidhi Stalin’s comments reflect a North-South fault line, rooted in the perception of caste and the political mobilisation capabilities of the BJP and Opposition blocs

- Amrith Lal

The diverse responses to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s comments on Sanatana Dharma reveal political fault lines that can have a bearing on election outcomes. Southern India has been relatively cool to Udhayanidhi’s criticism of Sanatana Dharma whereas he has been viciously attacked by the Hindutva parivar in the North. 

The North-South divide was most evident in the responses from within the Congress: Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge and Karthi Chidambaram, a Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) from Tamil Nadu, defended Udhayanidhi whereas former Madhya Pradesh chief minister (CM) Kamal Nath and Maharashtra state Congress chief Nana Patole distanced the party from the DMK leader’s statements. The DMK and the Left ecosystems in the South have sought to frame the controversy within the discourse of anti-caste politics. However, outfits such as the Samajwadi Party (SP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and Janata Dal-United, which claim the legacy of Lohiaite social justice politics, and the Bahujan Samaj Party, have been silent or muted in their response despite Udhayanidhi linking his criticism of Sanatana Dharma to the practice of caste and his father, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, backing him.

This divergence in response has to do with the distinct political histories of southern and northern states, of course, but also the nature of the growth and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) across India.