Regional satraps are vote-catchers but they often treat their parties like family property. They must establish a clear chain of command
The political crisis in Tamil Nadu somewhat resolved after Governor Vidyasagar Rao allocated the portfolios held by ailing Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to her trusted deputy O Panneerselvam, who has been the Chief Minister twice when Jayalalithaa had to step down after conviction. With the frequent unconfirmed rumours spreading like wildfire amid fears that the hospital was not revealing the truth about the condition of the Chief Minister, there is indeed a need for a rethink on a deputy leader.
This brings us to the question as to whether there is a need for regional chieftains to put in place a chain of command to run the Government when they are incapacitated.
The political crisis in Tamil Nadu is the direct result of the AIADMK’s complete dependence on party supremo Jayalalithaa just as it did on MGR in the seventies and the eighties. MGR then and Jayalalithaa now carried on the personality cult to its ultimate degree, keeping the party under control by making it almost completely dependent on them for votes. If MGR was the party then, Jayalalithaa is the party now. When MGR was hospitalised in 1984, there was a power struggle. Ultimately, in his later years, it was the coterie around MGR which ruled.
Jayalalithaa is not the only one guarding her fiefdom. There is Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav, lalu Prasad, Naveen Patnaik, Arvind Kejriwal, K,Chandrashekar Rao, Chandrababu Naidu, M Karunanidhi and Parkash Singh Badal, to name a few. Karunanidhi, Badal, lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Chandrababu Naidu and Chandrashekar Rao have virtually anointed their sons as the successors.
The regional chieftains want to keep their party completely subservient and colleagues insecure. That is why you see the snakes and ladders game being played by them. For instance, AIADMK leader V Maitreyan was the face of the party in Delhi, but one fine day he was stripped of his position and sidelined. MGR too played this game often.
The regional satraps know that the others have no identity. Jaya told a senior Congress leader, “Party! What is the partyIJ I am the party.” So, even though they pretend to be democratic and go through the motion of consultation, no one in the party would dare oppose any decision taken by the party supremo.
The public as well as the party put up with the style of functioning of the leaders, which gives them the strength to be dictatorial. That is why, during election time, they can completely change the list of the candidates because the voters cast their votes for the regional chieftain and not for the candidate’s personal clout.
While all these are okay at the party level , the Chief Ministers have to go by the Constitution. When they are incapacitated, there can be no vacuum. Unfortunately, most of them believe in their immortality. As for the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, she is a single woman and has no family to stake claims. She might have all the trust in her companion Sasikala, but the latter has no position in the party or the Government to take over.
In the case of Jayalalithaa, like in the case of the late Balasaheb Thackeray and now even Sonia Gandhi, the proxy rule system worked because the leader was hale and hearty and could control the dummy. The problem arises when the leader is unwell to attend office for a long stretch of time. The people as well as the party are confused about the capacity of the leader to take difficult decisions from the hospital bed.
This gives rise to all sorts of rumour-mongering and tussle for power within the party. We see this happening in the AIADMK.
Personalities and families dominating regional and even national politics is nothing new across the world — even in deeply entrenched democracies. The beauty of the Indian democracy is that it has survived these 70 years despite the growing personality cult where regional satraps fiercely guard their little fiefdoms. With the fracturing of the polity the number of the regional chieftains is only growing. It will be dangerous if there is no chain of command.
Therefore, despite their reluctance, it is important that the powerful regional leaders who are their party’s face, define the hierarchy that can take over in times of crisis.
(The writer is a political commentator and a syndicated columnist)