Over the past two days, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Madurai, netizens from Tamil Nadu began a trend #GoBackModi which topped the global trends on Twitter for over 48 hours. This unity and togetherness of Tamils on social media has stunned people all over India. So, what is it about the Tamils that actually struck a chord with the rest of the Indians, especially those from the South?
Soon after this trend, people from Kerala on social media started the hashtag trend #PoMoneModi (Go Back Modi), as his next pit-stop was Kerala. Picking up the trend, Kerala too has shown that the PM is not welcome in their state. While the Tamils stated that they did not get the Centre’ help for Cyclone, farmers’ issues and destabilising their state government, Keralites mentioned their reasons as the recent Kerala floods, Sabarimala disturbance, etc. While each of these states have their own issues, one cannot help but observe how the Telugu states have lessons to learn from the unity among Tamils and Malayalis.
The two Telugu States, post a bitter bifurcation have, lost the affection and love for each other. Even politicians played to the gallery and raked up unnecessary sentiments for votes. The situation currently is so bad that people from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh act more like enemies though they do not have any personal differences. What is worse is that there is unity among the people of Telangana while people in Andhra Pradesh are a divided lot because of caste differences within the state.
Let us take Special Status for Andhra Pradesh: Every political party has a different stance on it. This fight among the political parties within AP has invariably divided its people too, leading to a lack of unity among themselves. Also, what they lack is the spirit to fight together for the cause. Similarly, in Telangana, there is a difference of opinion between political parties – one party wants to finish all the other. The battle between both Telugu states has gone to the extent where one state wants to belittle the other, its politicians want to fight the other. This complete lack of togetherness among Telugu people (who were united until 2014) has become an impediment for their own progress.
While the BJP is using its might to make its entry into every Southern state, its strategy to create inroads and bitterness have worked well with both Telugu states. While it could be the party’s political strategy, what the Telugu States can learn from the Tamil is the spirit of being together and not fighting among themselves. It is unfortunate that the people and the politicians in Telugu states are fighting amongst each other – showing that we are weak and can easily be provoked by any external force or vested interest that is trying to destabilize both the states.
May be, it is time for the Telugu people to wake up to their strength and not blame each other, but fight for their own future and development of their states.