S. Ramadoss

In 1987, the Vanniyar Sangham under Ramadoss organized the 1987 Vanniyar reservation agitation demanding MBC status for Vanniyars. At the peak of the protests, the state was paralysed for a week when lakhs of trees were felled, highways blocked and damaged and more than 1400 houses of the Dalit community burned down.^[4] The police under the M G Ramchandran (MGR) led AIADMK government shot down 21 protestors.^[5] Later in 1989, the DMK government under M. Karunanidhi granted them 20 percent reservation under the Most backward class.^[6] The Pattali Makkal Katchi, founded by S. Ramadoss on 16 July 1989,^[7] emerged from these protests.^[8]

S. Ramadoss is known for using foul language in press meets and public meetings. In June 2019 he stoked a controversy, saying that he would kill journalists who question him about hundreds of trees cut down by his party workers during his arrest by the J Jayalalithaa government. He said, "if we protest again we will not cut trees but hack down those who ask these questions, and throw their mangled bodies across the road."^[9] He also called the journalists "dogs" and "Kammanati pasanga", a derogatory phrase used for 'son of widow'.^[10][11]

Ramadoss is notorious for his anti-Dalit rhetoric and violence. In December 2012, Ramadoss initiated a controversial campaign to prevent Dalit men from marrying non-Dalit women, especially those women who belong to the Vanniyar community.^[12] In Tamil Nadu, many political parties wanted legal action against him. In an event in 2010, he said, "Dalit men sporting jeans, t-shirts and fancy glasses lure our women into marriages that don't work." M. Karunanidhi asked the government of the state to "act against those stirring up a caste passion". The campaign provoked the 2012 Dharmapuri violence, where hundreds of Dalit houses were charred by arsonists.^[13][14][15] Ramadoss strongly campaigned for raising women's legal age of marriage to 21 as he believes upper caste women in their late teenage are easy targets for Dalit men.^[16] Ramadoss convened a meeting with leaders representing intermediate castes to crusade against SC/ST Act, a law that criminalizes caste discrimination, alleging that Dalits misuse the law and register false cases to settle personal scores.^[17] In 2013, he was arrested for inciting caste riots. Jayalalitha blamed PMK and Vanniyar Sangam for the 2013 Marakkanam violence. Following his arrest, PMK organised a statewide violent protest that resulted in the injury of several people and losses to public property.^[18][19] Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) accused PMK of murdering two Dalit youths in Arrakonam in April 2021.^[20]

• Bhūẏām̐, Dāśarathi (2007). Role of Regional Political Parties in India. Mittal Publications. ISBN 9788183241915.
• Wyatt, Andrew (2009). Party System Change in South India: Political Entrepreneurs, Patterns and Processes. Routledge. ISBN 9780203862209.

• S Ramadoss Official Profile