Over the last week, the scenario in Tamil Nadu has undergone dramatic changes. Sasikala was held guilty by the Supreme Court in the disproportionate assets case and stood disqualified for the Chief Minister post. Similar would have been the fate of Jayalalithaa had she been alive. As anticipated, once the disqualification came, Sasikala fielded her own candidate Palaniswamy. The “captive” MlAs were brought from the holiday resort to the legislature and 122 of them supported the candidature of Palaniswamy when both the DMK and the Congress were not present in the House.
The situation is pregnant with new ramifications. Sasikala has succeeded in ensuring that her nominee is the Chief Minister demonstrating an unusual remote control. It did not matter to the MlAs whether the leader had been convicted in a serious charge reflecting on her conduct in public life. The person concerned has also engrafted into the party her relatives who had been expelled by Jayalalithaa and were not to return to the party as per the wishes of Jayalalithaa. A leading cine artist has called the arrangement a “criminal conglomerate”. The entire episode does not speak well of the health of the democratic polity. The stranglehold of a so-called leader has continued to have its influence despite conviction of four years.
Probity and ethics in public life have been thrown to the winds and personality cult has had a field day. It is strange to see a convict remote-controlling the Government of a prosperous State from within the precincts of a jail. It does not speak well of the health of our political structure. Values have now no role to play in the selection of the leadership. Personal loyalty, without any questions asked, is not necessarily a desirable phenomenon in the working of the largest democracy. A movement like Jallikattu could have come to the aid of the polity. In other words, if there was articulated public reaction to such an ugly manifestation of the power game, there would have been some ray of hope. The attempts at making Dinakaran an important Minister failed because of the resistance of the Governor to agree to such a proposal when the person concerned has been found guilty by the FERA court. Activities indulged in by the leadership are relegated to the background and personal loyalty overtakes everything else. In such a situation, hegemony of power structure is bound to develop with a caucus tending to reign.
The scenario indicates that the dominant youth power is not alert and reactive to the inner currents that bring about this kind of a situation. They rose for Jallikattu in an organised and orderly manner, that too spontaneously. But they do not have that enthusiasm or urge for ensuring probity in public life. Personal loyalty can be very often devoid of rationality and can blur informed decision-making in public affairs. There was a time when KD Malaviya had to resign from the Central Cabinet because of an allegation that 10,000 rupees was received by him from a mine owner of Odisha. Now thousands of crores have been changing hands and disproportionate assets of significant magnitude amassed through abuse of public power do not disturb the conscience of MlAs. It is sad to see that the youth power in Tamil Nadu is indolent enough to tolerate the ugly episode of the last week. The slow motion of the Governor did bear some fruit on account of the adverse judgment by the Supreme Court. Tamil Nadu has suffered the ignominy of having two successive Chief Ministers from being debarred/disqualified from holding public office. But the sequence of events that took place after the judgment do not speak well of the state of the democratic fabric. In fact, they pose a threat to the canons of a healthy democracy. A prosperous State, with a heritage behind it, succumbed to personality cult, blind personal loyalty and, in the process, ethics and probity in public life became a casualty. This does not throw up happy indicators in the political horizon. It is strange to see a person, convicted of a serious offence by the apex court, retaining power through unorthodox methods, which are inherently undemocratic. These trends should disturb one and all in a society that is concerned about its own welfare and future. But the apathy of the youth power is a disconcerting feature, and blind support to personality cults are undesirable signals emanating from within the political system. The spirit of Jallikattu was missing when it came to the important task of choosing the Chief Minister.
There was a mismatch between political manipulations and the robust public opinion. As days go by, there is bound to be aberrative performances by the Council of Ministers because of the element of remote control. Public reaction would then cause a reconsideration of the situation, including trends towards a fresh selection. But an election would not be favoured by the existing MlAs as they have a dominant part of their tenure yet to elapse. Meanwhile, the DMK has also moved the court questioning the legality of the melodrama in the House leading to the passing of the trust-vote. But there is all likelihood of disenchantment in the loyalty quarters. This disenchantment with the caucus leadership may throw up new indicators of a new alignment. That is the only hope for Panneerselvam in the otherwise dark days. In the event of a realignment in favour of the earlier trusted leader, there would be a weaning of loyalty and an onset of the era of objectivity. This structural change would be the harbinger of political adjustments that the State might be requiring at the moment.
One has to watch and see how long the Chief Minister lasts with his Government and how effective is the influence of Panneerselvam to cause structural dents in the party he has grown up with and has been trusted by Jayalalithaa. A person having been convicted holds the strings of power from inside a jail. This is an undesirable scenario and needs to be rectified through public demand. The youth power must become the catalysts for curative measures. One waited for a Jallikattu-type public expression rejecting personality cults and condemning corruption in public life. But alas! None of that has been forthcoming from the youths. In this effort, the elders must also guide and cooperate with them. But it cannot be confined to the youths alone when it comes to stimulating a public upsurge to purge the system. The recent events require serious attention and should be viewed in all their implications and nuances. In an effort to remedy the aberrations in the system, all have to be involved to raise a chorus of rationality and reform. Surely, this concerns us all!
(The writer, a Senior Advocate, is a former All India Service officer, a former diplomat, a former editor, a former President of Orissa High Court Bar Association and a former Advocate General of Odisha. jayantdas@hotmail.com)