Resurrection of Dravida Nadu

Recently, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Mr MK Stalin hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for a "double engine" government, saying it would not work in the state. Stalin was responding to Modi's remarks at an NDA rally in Maduranthakam, where Modi launched the alliance's campaign for the 2026 Assembly elections and said, "We have to free Tamil Nadu from the clutches of the DMK."

BJP's assault on the Dravidian culture is nothing new. Its alliance with anti-Dravidian forces and Modi's assertion for change in Tamil Nadu is a continuum of the Hindutva agenda in South India.

An India Today story in September last year pointed to growing polarity between South and North India. Framing the struggle as crucial for federalism, Stalin said, "If we don't stop BJP, they will move towards the idea of no existence of states", citing Kashmir as precedent. He urged the people to treat the moment with the same resolve as the anti-Hindi protests. "Just like how Tamil Nadu fought the language war and saved the whole of India, it is time for a historical duty to conduct a war for rights to protect the nation," he said.

Dravida Nadu was a movement for an independent sovereign state for Dravidian-speaking people in southern India. Emerging in the early 20th century and led by figures like Periyar and the Justice Party, it opposed Brahminical hierarchy, caste oppression and perceived North Indian political and cultural domination, particularly after the push to make Hindi India's sole official language.

The DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) initially championed this cause but officially abandoned secessionism in 1963 due to 16th Amendment to the Indian Constitution which banned secessionist demands. DMK shifted the focus to regional autonomy within India, but the Dravidian youth is becoming self-aware of exploitation of the Brahminical North and has started resurrecting the idea of Dravida Nadu.

The BJP's electoral performance in South India is a testament to this trend. Other than success in Karnataka, BJP has failed to effectively win other Dravidian states due to a complex mix of linguistic, cultural, political and historical factors.

In Tamil Nadu, BJP had no Lok Sabha seats in 2019 or 2024 and never formed state government. The reasons are simple: strong Dravidian political identity, which views BJP as a "North Indian" or "Hindi-heartland" party; dominance of DMK which has strong social welfare roots and regional pride narratives; and perceived cultural differences and language pride.

In Kerala, BJP has minimal legislative presence with vote share usually below 15%. The reasons are: strong presence of Left Front (CPI-M) and Congress-led UDF with deep social roots; high literacy; political awareness; and historical secularism; and significant Muslim (36%) and Christian (18%) populations who have not aligned with BJP's Hindutva politics.

In Andhra Pradesh, BJP remains on the margins with a coalition with TDP. Politics is dominated by regional issues, special category status, state bifurcation legacy and caste-based mobilisation.

Telangana has shown growing influence of BJP but still remains a minor player – 4 Lok Sabha seats in 2024 (improved from 0 in 2019), boosted by alliance with BRS; and 8 state Assembly seats out of 119 in 2023 state elections (up from 1 in 2018).

Although Dravida Nadu has not materialised so far due to legal tool used by Brahminic elite in the Center, its movement has pressured the Centre to respect state rights and culture. Tamil Nadu remains a strong advocate for state autonomy and fiscal federalism. Dravida Nadu is now becoming mainstream in Dravidian states and has inspired people to assert linguistic rights and cultural identity.

Two other factors are also important in North-South divide: The Human Development factor and Demographics: There is a disproportionate representation of South Indians among Indian-origin tech CEOs, particularly in the data/software giants like Microsoft, Google, Adobe and IBM. This is linked to historic educational pipelines and network effects. States like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala invested heavily in science, technology and engineering education earlier on.

Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Shantanu Narayen, Rajeev Suri, Sridhar Ramaswamy and Raj Subramaniam come from Dravidian states. Thus, Dravidian states (Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala) generally rank higher due to better infrastructure, education and industrialisation. Northern plains states (Bihar, UP, Jharkhand) lag despite recent growth due to baseline challenges.

Over the past three decades (1991–2021), North India has consistently experienced significantly higher average population growth rates than South India. This divergence is often termed India's "demographic divide". The debate in Dravidian states is focusing on why South should suffer despite a better population control and human development index. BJP has plans to conduct delimitation of constituencies in 2026-27. Based on initial assessment, Dravidian states will lose almost 15% of seats in Lok Sabha through the stroke of a Brahminic pen. This could result in total marginalisation of Dravidian states and further shifting of power to the Brahminical North.

Tamil Nadu will enter into state elections in April-May this year. The debate on mainstream Godi Media and the Dravidian channels is contrasting. CNN News 18 had an interesting debate between DMK and BJP leaders last week. It was ironic to find that the anchor was trying to criticise the DMK leader for MK Stalin's slogan of 'Aryan vs Dravidian War' and stating that historic reference does not work in 21st Century. We ask Godi media the same question: will they criticise BJP's onslaught on Muslim history and Mughal empire as well as Mr Ajit Doval's incitement of the Hindu Youth to "avenge the disgrace of a thousand years"?

The period of 2026-27 could be a watershed year in the history of India. An assertive Brahminic North versus the agile Dravidian South. The battle lines are drawn and India heads into a major political storm which could shake its very foundations.