VCK chief gives reality check to Ranjith on caste politics

Sharing the dais with Dalit leaders at Dr Ambedkar memorial in the city on December 6, Ranjith said the various outfits of scheduled castes should form a Dalit collective and face the ensuing Lok Sabha elections together. He had even suggested that the Dalit outfits should field a candidate each in the seven reserve Parliamentary constituencies after expressing anguish at the elected representatives of the scheduled caste community not voicing the concerns of the community effectively.

While cautious Dalit ‘champions’ on dais kept calm then, Thirumavalavan, the most popular Dalit leader of the state, offered Ranjith a glimpse of political reality by suggesting at Chennai airport on Saturday morning that electoral politics should be approached politically and not using caste. If it were approached using caste, it will isolate the Dalit community, said a realistic Thirumavalavan, who eyes to face the election to the Parliament from his native Chidambaram constituency in the DMK alliance. VCK general secretary Ravikumar seconded his leader and tweeted; “Uniting parties on caste lines was against the principle of Ambedkar.”

Ranjith’s rhetoric drew the attention of not just his Dalit brethren. His proclaimed anti-Hindutva stand kept tongues wagging even in the rival BJP camp. BJP national secretary H Raja questioned the director’s political inexperience and tweeted; “He (Ranjith) does not know either RSS or Ambedkar.” Raja took offence to Ranjith’s post that BJP could not appropriate Ambedkar for he opposed RSS throughout his life.

Pertinently, Ranjith was not the first to be schooled by Thirumavalavan this week. MDMK leader Vaiko was shown his place by the VCK chief for making a patronising statement about Dalit community and personal remarksabout him.