In the past years policymakers from New Delhi, notably union ministers and senior civil servants, used to visit different parts of the country. Such visits provided for regular opportunities for interactions with these policymakers in the different regions and was helpful in two-way communications: the policymakers explaining the salient features of policies and the locals giving their reactions on ground realities on the impact of such policies.
With the expansion of transportation and communications such interactions expanded, but up to a point. The era of coalition governments in Delhi that became the norm from 1989 paved the way for a large number of regional political parties, which were more comfortable visiting their home states and did not exert over much to develop a pan India outlook and contacts. For a state like Tamil Nadu with its anti-Hindi phobia there was the added disadvantage of language. And the rapid and massive spread of the media post 2000 further resulted in policymakers becoming more Delhi-centric.
There’s been a welcome change in recent months. Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and several other Union ministers have been making a beeline to visit various parts of Tamil Nadu. Piyush Goyal and Smriti Irani were in Chennai and Coimbatore respectively to witness the progress of Centrally-sponsored schemes in Tamil Nadu. In the past two months, the BJP has sent 24 ministers to visit small towns in the state to oversee the implementation of several Central welfare schemes. These have included Prahalad Joshi, Narendra Singh Tomar, Pratima Bhoumik, and Faggan Singh Kulaste.
With an eye on gaining a foothold in the state in the next Lok Sabha elections, BJP is all set for a strategy to woo the voters, especially in the rural areas of TN. Hopefully they continue to keep TN in their minds after the elections.
