Dr K Krishnaswamy, chief of the Puthiya Tamilagam party, has said that there would be no alliance with the AIADMK if the Devendra Kula Vellalars are not regrouped and removed from the Scheduled Caste list. In a strongly-worded letter to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami on Friday, Krishnaswamy highlighted the long-pending demand, asking the ruling party to live up to its poll promise. Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, the AIADMK joined hands with Puthiya Tamilagam. Krishnaswamy unsuccessfully contested the Tenkasi Lok Sabha seat even as the AIADMK faced an embarrassing defeat, losing all but one of 39 parliamentary seats.
“It would be difficult for us to work together in the upcoming bye-polls or any polls without a Government Order passed on Devendra Kula Vellalars. Their demand is neither one for a separate state nor a special status; rather, it is to grant the traditional Devendra Kula Vellalars the name by which they have been traditionally called,” reads the letter. The letter also said that prior to the polls, Chief Minister Palaniswami had promised the party that a committee under Hans Raj Verma IAS (Additional Chief Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department) would be formed to submit a report to the government on the matter. “You had given us the assurance that a Government Order would be passed as soon as the Model Code of Conduct for the elections ended,” it alleged.
The Puthiya Tamilagam party, founded in 1997, primarily seeks to protect the rights of the Devendra Kula Vellalar community in the state. Devendra Kula Vellalar, or Pallar, are part of the Scheduled Caste List in Tamil Nadu. However, many people in the community, led by leader Krishnasamy, have demanded that Devendra Kula Vellalars be removed from the SC list, claiming that this is an ‘imposed identity.’
In August 2015, BJP chief Amit Shah had supported the demand from some sections of the Devendra Kula Vellalars to recognize them as a distinct sub-sect under the Most Backward Class category at a public meeting in Madurai. Following this, a delegation of community members had met Prime Minister Modi in September 2015, seeking to rename their community. In two election rallies this year in the state, PM Modi assured the community that he was sensitive to their demands and requested the state government and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes to review the matter.
With no developments forthcoming nearly five months after the election results, Krishnaswamy stated that feelings of bitterness have come to the fore among the Devendra Kula Vellalar community members.