BJP's Rath Yatra was held in late 80s and early 90s. The Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992. What happened in Tamil Nadu 28 years later?

BJP's Rath Yatra was very significant for the party in gaining popularity. It spread through most of the country over the next three decades. However, Tamil Nadu was one state where BJP still had very little presence.

Many people in Tamil Nadu support Ravana as opposed to Ram. However, that is not the main reason why Advani's Rath Yatra had no effect in Tamil Nadu. The main reason is that people are not concerned about building a Ram Temple on the exact spot it has supposedly been centuries ago. There are specific holy places where people from Tamil Nadu go on pilgrimages. But Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh is not traditionally one of these places (Tamil Nadu has its own Ayodhyapattinam like the one near Salem).

BJP's plan:

BJP wanted to go on a Yatra similar to the one it did in the 90s. Instead of going to Ram temples, the party decided to go to the Murugan temples in the state. Rath Yatra is a common name political parties use for processions as rath means chariot in Hindi. However, since this was Tamil Nadu, BJP decided to call it 'Vel' Yatra instead. The Yatra was scheduled to cover the six abodes of Lord Murugan. It was to start on 6th November 2020 in Tiruttani, and end in Tiruchendur, Thoothukudi on 6th December.

Normally BJP puts faces of Jan Sangh leaders like Shyama Prasad Mukharjee and Deen Dayal Upadhyay on its posters. However, BJP apparently felt that pictures of these leaders might not have much impact in Tamil Nadu. They put pictures of AIADMK founder Dr. M.G.R on the posters and propaganda videos (like this one).

How it began:

The government needs to give permission before people can go on such processions. BJP asked for permission, and the Tamil Nadu government did not grant it.

BJP leaders still started the Vel Yatra on 6th November as scheduled. However, they were detained by the police. They tried again on the 8th. After all, they were from the party which was ruling at the centre. "We should be able to do it if we want," they thought. Again they were detained by the Tamil Nadu police.

Concerns about the Vel Yatra:

There were many concerns about BJP's Vel Yatra. It was scheduled to end on the same day as the Babri Masjid was demolished. The Rath Yatra held in the 90s had caused a lot of Hindu-Muslim conflict with BJP on the side of the Hindus. Till now, Tamil Nadu had been a peaceful state with very little religious violence. It is true that there have been some caste violence, but overall Tamil Nadu tops the country with respect to the law and order situation. It would be a watershed for the state if BJP's Vel Yatra caused any conflict.

All eyes were on the AIADMK government's decision as to whether it would allow the Vel Yatra. AIADMK was allied with BJP. Also, BJP claimed it was going to counter DMK (AIADMK's arch rival) during the rallies.

The Tamil Nadu government stuck to its decision not to allow the Vel Yatra. The official reason for not allowing it was not because of the law and order situation. It was because of coronavirus.

Trouble between allies?

In any case, there were speculations that there was trouble between AIADMK and BJP. Reporters asked BJP state president L. Murugan about it. He replied that it was the Tamil Nadu government that was against the Vel Yatra. When reporters pointed out that the Tamil Nadu government was run by AIADMK, he replied that the government was run by various officials as well.

AIADMK did object to BJP putting M.G.R on its posters.

Our Dravidian ideology and movement is different. Their [BJP’s] ideology is different. Using our leader’s visuals and images to get their party to grow is absolutely unacceptable and condemnable... Our leader, Puratchi Thalaivar’s fame and legacy belongs only to the AIADMK and our cadres. Other parties do not have the moral right to lay claim to any of it

--K. P Munusamy, MP, AIADMK deputy coordinator [Source]

In mid November, AIADMK made a statement on the BJP's Vel Yatra. The government had said it was not allowed due to coronavirus, but AIADMK now said it was due to communal violence.

The peaceful state of Tamil Nadu will not allow processions that aim at dividing people on the basis of caste and religion. All those concerned must understand this. The people of Tamil Nadu have repeatedly proven to the entire country that the Dravidian cradle of Tamil Nadu is the place where religion is considered as a guiding lamp for human beings and not to propagate hatred...

AIADMK will not allow efforts to gain vote bank politics in the names of religions. Those who organise the Vel Yatra should understand this.

--Namadhu Amma (AIADMK mouth piece)

When asked about AIADMK's new stand on the Vel Yatra, L. Murugan said that he had not had a chance to read the newspaper yet so he did not think it was appropriate to comment on it. Apparently, he did not get a chance to read it for a very long time.

The statement came out in the AIADMK mouthpiece; it was not made by a party leader. So the message was said in a significant way, and yet no one could be questioned for further details on the issue.

Attracting cadres:

Every few days BJP leaders would attempt to continue their Vel Yatra and each time the police would detain them. In the 90s, during its Rath Yatra, BJP had not been in power at the centre and the government had been against the Yatra. In spite of that they had managed to go on with it. They had not only resisted the police, they had even resisted the CRPF!

How did they do it that time? One explanation is that the then government had given closet support to the Yatra; the other explanation is that the BJP cadres had a lot of willpower and were determined to go on with it at all costs.

But the Rath Yatra had been mainly in North India. It had had very little or no effect in southern parts of the country. Now BJP was ruling in the centre and had got allied with the party ruling in Tamil Nadu. And yet, they were unable to go on with their Vel Yatra.

To show their strength, BJP needed as many cadres as possible. They offered ₹300 to each person willing to campaign for them. They could 'buy' support, but apparently it was not so easy to buy 'willpower.' After a few attempts, the cadres realised that they were going to be arrested. They continued to campaign, but now they would flee from the spot and hide as soon as they spotted the police coming towards them. The BJP senior leaders would be left alone when the police reached them. So it would look like BJP did not have much support after all!

BJP started offering biryani as well as money to the cadres. The condition was that they should not run away from the police. Since the police were arresting them on each rally,there was an easy way of knowing who should get the biryani: Cadres would get the biryani after coming out of police custody!

Read also: AIADMK's strategy: contrasting attitudes towards centre and state BJP.

Who would blink first?

So far, only the BJP state unit had participated in the Vel Yatra. However, the BJP high command as well as ministers were scheduled to participate. Union minister Sadananda Gowda was scheduled to attend the Yatra on the 22nd, and V. Muraleedharan on the 23rd. Even BJP president J.P Nadda had been invited. Union home minister Amit Shah was not attending the Vel Yatra, but he was scheduled to visit Chennai on the 21st.

It would have been very difficult and embarrassing for the Tamil Nadu government to arrest BJP high-command leaders let alone union ministers. On the other hand, it would have been very embarrassing for BJP if its leaders broke rules even if they didn't get arrested. It was embarrassing enough for people to know that even BJP state president L. Murugan was arrested many times.

It was very obvious to BJP and AIADMK that this situation should not arise. Either the Tamil Nadu government would give permission, or the senior BJP leaders would cancel their visit. The question was: Who would blink first?

Amit Shah's visit:

Amit Shah arrived at Chennai on 21st November. He was greeted with a grand reception. All the senior AIADMK leaders were there to receive him. Deputy chief minister O. Pannerselvam went as far as to call him 'Modern Chanakya.' Never before had AIADMK greeted a union minister in such a way. 'Would [former AIADMK leader] Jayalalithaa have gone all the way to the airport to receive a union minister?' DMK leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi once asked a crowd.

Maybe AIADMK was being over supportive to him as they had been just the opposite towards the BJP state unit.

The police had apparently detained the Vel Yatra participants due to coronavirus. By that logic, such a grand reception for Amit Shah would also have been very dangerous. But the police gave permission for it.

Pannerselvam announced that the alliance with BJP would continue for the 2021 assembly elections.

Read also: "Go Back Shah": This message literally reached right in front of Amit Shah. What happened?

What happened in the end:

Finally, on 25th, L. Murugan announced that the rest of the Vel Yatra would be cancelled, except the closing ceremony. He said that the reason for cancelling it was due to the cyclones.

The closing ceremony was attended by Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan from BJP. It was held at a wedding hall in which many BJP members went inside. Such crowding inside a wedding hall may have been against the rules under normal circumstances, but the government would have made an exeption since Shivraj Singh Chouhan was part of it. BJP held the ceremony on 7th December instead of 6th (the day the Babri Masjid was demolished). L. Murugan said the Yatra went off well. 'Though we could not visit some places due to the cyclone, the Yatra began at Tiruttani and ended at Tiruchendur,' he said.

The next day, the police filed cases against 1,000 BJP cadres who had been crowding outside the wedding hall!