Whose Periyar? How the rationalist leader’s legacy shapes Tamil Nadu politics across party lines

Chief minister C Joseph Vijay termed Periyar his party’s guiding light, but said it did not share the leader’s views on atheism Periyar E V Ramasamy never contested an election. Yet, five decades after his death, his name surfaces in the context of every election in Tamil Nadu. Parties across the state’s political spectrum, parties that share little else in common continue to publicly invoke the rationalist leader.When C Joseph Vijay launched TVK a couple of years ago, he named Periyar as one of party’s “ideological guiding lights”. DMK and AIADMK have always maintained their core ideologies have been influenced by Periyar. CPI endorses Periyar’s social reform movement especially his views on inter-caste marriages.Whether adapt or adopt, embrace or challenge, uphold or contest, every party stakes a claim to the legacy of the rationalist leader. But on their own terms.In June, after he became chief minister, Vijay made it clear in the assembly that while TVK had embraced Periyar’s social principles, it did not share his views on atheism. “We took Periyar’s teachings but also made it clear we are believers in God,” he said.In March, former BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan justified the removal of a Periyar photo from the entrance of an NDA meeting in Madurai. Yet, she credits Periyar’s agitation for women’s rights “for the independence they enjoy today”. “The party does not accept the phrase ‘Periyar mann’ (Periyar’s soil). It’s the soil of Periyalvaar (one of the 12 alvar saints of South India) and Andal (the only female Tamil saint) too. Religion and spirituality are just as important as social justice,” says Tamilisai.Periyar, says political historian and biographer Kannan R, remains an “enduring ideological benchmark”. “He can never be a vote-catching name. He did not seek electoral office. But C N Annadurai, who spent years in his movement, took elements of that social reform politics into electoral mobilisation through DMK. Invoking Periyar does not mean accepting his entire ideology. Parties do it to establish that their politics belongs within the social and political history of Tamil Nadu, even when their ideological positions differ from his,” says Kannan.“Much like Congress invokes Gandhi, parties in Tamil Nadu that cast aside his atheism and radical ideas invoke Periyar as a symbol to anchor their political identity and Tamils-first legitimacy. It is why Periyar became an ideological reference point even after the movement entered electoral politics.”Political strategists say the influence traces back to the caste hierarchies of the early 20th century, when there was disproportionate representation in govt employment, education and administrative positions. The Justice Party, formed in 1916, laid the ground to fix the imbalance, but Periyar, who supported the movement, took it further by launching the Self-Respect Movement in 1925 to challenge caste, patriarchy and religious orthodoxy.Justice Party passed the first communal GO in 1921, which aimed to increase proportion of posts held by non-brahmin communities in provincial govt services. After Supreme Court struck down the communal GO in 1950, Periyar led agitations demanding it be restored. The political pressure led to the First Constitutional Amendment in 1951, which inserted Article 15(4) allowing reservations for socially backward classes, Christians, Muslims, dalits and tribal communities.For V Kumaresan, DK’s treasurer, this achievement is one of the main reasons parties cannot escape Periyar. “What began as communal representation became social justice. From then on, whichever party came to power could not afford to neglect social justice. It became the core of the Dravidian movement,” he says.But the rationalist leader’s influence was not limited to policy demands. He changed the language through which political demands were made, says political historian Rajan Kurai Krishnan.“Periyar believed self-respect and questioning were synonymous. Periyar said: ‘You are equal to everybody. Respect yourself.’ This became a political value,” he says. “His legacy goes beyond Dravidian parties that emerged from his movement. Parties do not have to agree with all of Periyar’s ideas to engage with the political space he created.”DMK continues to identify closely with Periyar’s principles but, like many parties, does not insist on atheism as a condition for accepting them. “We follow Periyar’s ideology of equality and equanimity,” says DMK spokesperson T K S Elangovan. “The only idea we do not propagate as strongly as Periyar did is atheism. Party leaders may personally be atheists, but we do not preach it.”AIADMK links itself to Periyar through social justice and equality while invoking Annadurai’s position on religion. “Periyar upheld atheism and rejected the existence of God. Anna advocated ‘ondre kulam, oruvane devan’ (one community, one God),” says AIADMK spokesperson D Jayakumar.For PMK, Periyar’s legacy is in its campaign for caste-based data and reservation. “Periyar saw reservation as an important way to address caste inequalities. We have been demanding a caste census in Tamil Nadu and India for many years,” says president Anbumani Ramadoss.CPI identifies with another aspect of his social reform movement. “We believe in Periyar’s views on inter-caste and inter-religious marriages. We conduct such marriages,” says S K Siva, the party’s South Chennai district secretary. He says the party has recommended a law against caste-based crimes.“Periyar defined the vocabulary around which the state’s politics developed. That’s why every party wants to invoke him in some way,” says Jenny S, a political consultant, who worked with DMK and AIADMK. That does not make every party a ‘Periyarist’, she says.“But the questions he raised are important even today. Who gets representation? How do we address caste inequality? How do we protect dignity and equality?”Sept 17, 2026, marks Periyar’s 147th birth anniversary.You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Chennai | Silver Rate in Chennai | Bank Holidays in Chennai | Public Holidays in Chennai | Chennai AQI | Weather in Chennai | Petrol Price in Chennai | Diesel Price in Chennai | CNG Price in Chennai | LPG Price in ChennaiStay updated with the latest Chennai news. Download the TOI App.