The year 2025 was a great year for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party won in Delhi at the beginning of the year and by the end of the year, the party returned to power with a brilliant performance in Bihar. In the month of December, BJP also got good news from South India, where the party made an unexpected performance and appointed its mayor in Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram. Next year, assembly elections are to be held in two important states of South India, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. BJP is considered weak in these elections to be held in 2026 but the party is working on its strategy. In this context, senior party leader Shivraj Singh recently gave a statement on the linguistic dispute and PM Modi also promoted Tamil language in Mann Ki Baat. These statements are being said to be an exercise to find political ground in South India.
On December 27, Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan was on a tour of Tamil Nadu. During this tour, he participated in a program organized by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev’s Isha Foundation. In this program, Shivraj Singh Chauhan said that the linguistic diversity of India is our strength and learning each other’s languages strengthens national unity and mutual understanding. In this program he said that every Indian should learn at least one South Indian language. He also said that he himself would try to learn one of the South Indian languages.
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Tamil language in Mann Ki Baat
In the Mann Ki Baat program on December 28, PM Narendra Modi talked about the campaign being run to teach Tamil language in the schools of Kashi. PM Modi said, ‘These children who express their views in Tamil language are from Kashi but their love for Tamil language has inspired them to learn Tamil. This year, during the Kashi-Tamil Sangamam in Varanasi, special emphasis was laid on learning Tamil. A campaign to learn Tamil was launched in more than 50 schools of Kashi.
PM Modi said that Tamil language is the oldest language in the world. Tamil literature is also rich. I am happy that today there is a new attraction towards Tamil language among the youth in other parts of the country also. Regarding Tamil language, PM Modi talked at length on Tamil language. This statement of PM Modi is also being considered a part of the changing strategy of BJP.
hindi party tag
Even though the Bharatiya Janata Party has been in power at the Center for more than a decade, the party has not been able to establish its foothold in South India. The image of BJP in South India is that of a Hindi speaking party. Apart from Hindi speaking states, BJP also won in Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra but now BJP is trying to establish its hold in the South Indian states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana. In 2026, BJP faces elections in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, in which to win, the party will have to shed its image of being a communal and Hindi speaking party.
BJP and RSS have been tagged as Hindi speaking. Local BJP leaders are trying to convince the public that the party is not imposing Hindi but BJP becomes weak on this issue in front of the opposition. Arun Kumar, professor of political science at Geetam University, Bengaluru, says that the people of South India feel that BJP is an outsider party. He said, ‘When PM Modi and Amit Shah come to South India, they give speeches in Hindi. BJP does not have a single big leader who can talk to the people here in their language. Raised their issues in their own dialect. The messages of BJP leaders do not reach strongly among the public. There is a long history of anti-Hindi in the states of South India.
Changing tone on linguistic issue
The BJP government has taken many such decisions, which sent a message to South India that BJP is trying to impose Hindi. There is opposition to the three language policy in the National Education Policy. There are protests from Tamil Nadu to Kerala regarding some provisions made regarding Hindi. The latest statement of Union Minister Shivraj Singh is being seen as an attempt to get rid of the tag of being an anti-Hindi party. BJP says that under the three language formula of the National Education Policy, no language will be forcibly imposed but there will be an option of choice. BJP leaders say that NEP gives freedom to choose the language. BJP has given up its old aggressive attitude on the need of one language for the last few years.
In the winter session of Parliament, the MPs from South India had also linked the name of GRAMG Bill to the imposition of Hindi. Many MPs had alleged that the BJP government is deliberately keeping the names of the bills in Hindi and this makes it difficult for South Indian people to understand. On this question, BJP has accused the opposition of doing negative politics. After the victory in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar, in an interview given to Indian Express, called it the laziest kind of politics of the opposition.
He said, ‘The debate should be on why reform in MNREGA is necessary. What happened in the last 10-20 years and what is the government going to do? The opposition’s mere saying that the name of the scheme is in Hindi and it is insulting Tamil or Malayalam is not serious politics. He said that Hindi and English are widely used languages in the country and you cannot name everything in Tamil, Bhojpuri and Kashmiri. Therefore the government chooses the option of Hindi or English.
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Change in BJP’s strategy
The Bharatiya Janata Party has understood very well that if it wants to register victory in the South Indian states, it will have to change its stand on the language issue. BJP leaders are now talking about learning South Indian languages. From PM Modi to Shivraj Singh Chauhan, big party leaders are using words from South Indian languages in their speeches. BJP leaders are now promoting local leaders from these states. BJP has installed many leaders in Kerala. These also include Union Minister Suresh Gopi and former Union Minister and current BJP President Rajiv Chandrashekhar.
Rajiv Chandrasekhar recently said in an interview after the Kerala civic elections that in the last one year, the party has promoted about 100 leaders and all these leaders will play an important role in the upcoming assembly elections. Apart from this, K. in Tamil Nadu. BJP is trying to create a direct connection with the public through local leaders like Annamalai. However, BJP has not got success yet. While BJP has one Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, the party’s account has not even been opened in Tamil Nadu.
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