Chennai: Whereas campaigning in Gujarat’s Banaskantha on 1 Might, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the Congress for purportedly planning to introduce an inheritance tax. “If you have two buffaloes, the Congress will take away one if voted to power,” he warned the group. However what additionally stands out within the assertion is that it mirrors one thing that Congressman and former Tamil Nadu chief minister Kamaraj stated some 72 years in the past.
Throughout each the 1952 Madras legislative meeting election and the Gudiyatham by-election in 1954, Kamaraj issued related bovine-based warnings in regards to the opposition Communist Occasion of India and their socialist ideology. “If you have two cows, communists will take away one if voted to power. Then how will you plough your farmland?” Kamaraj had stated.
Nonetheless, historian and former DMK and CPM functionary M Duraisingam informed ThePrint that Kamaraj’s phrases have been stated in a distinct context.
“Since the Congress was fighting using the symbol of a ‘pair of bullocks’ at the time, the argument and criticism put forth against the communists gained people’s attention,” the 77-year-old political veteran stated. (The Congress reportedly solely began utilizing its present hand image in 1977.)
Duraisingam added that although Kamaraj’s rhetoric was about discrediting socialism and couldn’t be equated to what the PM stated in Gujarat, each statements have been designed to seize consideration.
“Both are said in different contexts, but the effects are the same,” he stated. “People easily get influenced by such campaign rhetoric.”
Congress veteran A Gopanna acknowledged that Kamaraj was vital of the communists’ concept of socialism, resulting in the strongly worded comment. “He supported democratic socialism, not the version practiced in communist countries,” Gopanna stated.
Nonetheless, political commentator Sigamani Thirupathi stated that though Modi and Kamaraj used related phrasing, the subtext conveyed by their assertion was utterly totally different.
“The usage of words is the same, but (the line) Modi took here is communal and what Kamaraj took in Tamil Nadu was about class,” he stated. Tirupathi was apparently referring to the Prime Minister’s marketing campaign speeches in Rajasthan, the place Modi accused the Congress of planning to remove individuals’s cash and mangalsutras and redistributing them to spiritual minorities.
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Congress, communists, and cows
In 1952, the Congress gained 152 of the 375 meeting constituencies in what was then known as Madras state, and, with assist from the Socialist Occasion and different allies, shaped a authorities. C Rajagopalachari was appointed chief minister.
Nonetheless, the formation of Andhra State later lowered the variety of seats in Madras state to 230. Of those, Congress had 118, and Ok Kamaraj was elected because the legislative social gathering chief.
“Kamaraj was not a member of the assembly then. So, he made AJ Arunachala Mudaliar, an MLA from the Gudiyatham assembly constituency resign and contested in the by-election,” recalled historian M Duraisingam.
Dravidian chief Periyar EV Ramasamy supported Kamaraj, so the DMK didn’t contest, however the Communist Occasion’s VK Kothandaraman supplied stiff competitors, in line with Duraisingam.
“The anxious Kamaraj went with such campaigns so vigorously to win the election,” he added.
CPM state committee member SA Perumal defined that Congress resorted to such marketing campaign rhetoric as a result of the communist motion was very sturdy at the moment. Kamaraj’s assertion, he stated, was additionally focused towards countering the communists’ ideology of “land belongs to those who cultivate it”.
“In 1952, Kamaraj often used lines like, ‘If you have two acres of land, they’ll take one; if you have two cows, they’ll take one away from you; if you have two houses, they’ll take one.’ The DMK later adopted similar language against the communists. Later, the DMK also made similar statements against the communists. If one needs power, they will go to any extent and this is what it shows,” the 81-year-old CPM veteran stated.
Perumal famous that it was troublesome for the Communist Occasion to achieve the individuals and counter such rhetoric. “(Congress) just said it so easily, but reaching the people with the correct context became a tough task,” he stated. “(The Congress used) common people’s language— and people get scared if someone tells them that their belongings will be forcibly taken away.”
From foes to pals
Whereas Ok Kamaraj opposed the communists, he was the primary to implement land reforms in Tamil Nadu, in line with Congress veteran Gopanna.
“The Tamil Nadu Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling on Land) Act, 1961, was brought by Kamaraj to limit the area for a family of five members to 30 standard acres. The DMK later reduced this to 15 acres after coming to power. Kamaraj was for the poor and he stood by it,” Gopanna stated.
Duraisingam additionally identified how Kamaraj visited communist nations after turning into chief minister.
“He won the election by criticising the communists but after becoming the CM he visited Russia and other communist countries. This was later criticised by the communists, but though there were ideological differences, he maintained good friendships with them,” he stated.
CPM’s Perumal averred that the Congress has moved away from its outdated concept of socialism. “They may not argue the same way now, since their present election manifesto itself speaks about the wealth accumulation of 1 percent of people in the country,” he stated. “But the sad part is that the same words they used against communists in Tamil Nadu have now been turned against them in Gujarat.”
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(Edited by Asavari Singh)