Populist rhetoric and Dravidian parties: a study of political communication

Purpose This paper explores the relationship between populist rhetoric and political communication within the context of Dravidian politics in Indian politics. Populist rhetoric has been a strategic tool used by both national and regional party leaders, but here, we are specifying regional parties’ usage, particularly the Dravidian Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), to articulate issues of socio-economic inequality, equality in caste status, and linguistic