While all other linguistically reorganised states celebrate November 1 as their foundation day, Tamil Nadu is deeply divided on this with the ruling DMK holding it on July 18, when the state was officially rechristened as Tamil Nadu.

It was on this day, 68 years ago, Tamil Nadu was carved out of the erstwhile Madras Presidency which was later christened Madras State. This once again exposes the deep schism between the DMK and its archrival, AIADMK as well as the BJP and Tamil nationalists.

The DMK government had, in 2022 declared July 18 as Tamil Nadu Day by rescinding an earlier order of the previous AIADMK government making November 1. For, it was on July 18, 1967 the first DMK government of CN Annadurai passed a resolution in the state assembly to rechristen the state as Tamil Nadu which was called Madras State till then. Later, parliament gave its approval for the same.

However, this day could not be abandoned since the opposition AIADMK, Naam Tamil Katchi (NTK) of Seeman, BJP, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam of Vijay have extended greetings.

Chief Minister MK Stalin chose to mark the day to honour the sacrifices of the heroes who had fought for retaining the borders of Tamil Nadu during the linguistic reorganisation of states. “November 1 is the day to honour the struggles of the valiant heroes who fought for retaining the borders of Tamil Nadu in the north and south. I salute them for their sacrifices to get the areas where Tamils lived and where Tamil was spoken united with Tamil Nadu.”

The DMK has found support from its ally, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) with its president Thol. Thirumavalavan, MP, stated that November 1 was a day when Tamil Nadu lost some of its traditional parts to its neighbours. “Only July 18 is appropriate for celebrating Tamil Nadu day,” he said in a statement.

While extending wishes for the State Day, PMK founder S Ramadoss said in a statement, “Rather than gaining, Tamil Nadu has lost geographically to its neighbours which continue to be the root cause for its many problems including sharing of river waters. Because of the outdated Dravidian ideology we are losing our rights and Tamil is deprived of its identity. Let us strive to reclaim our lost rights on this day.”