The exit of Jayalalithaa left a political vacuum in Tamil Nadu and this is yet to be filled. There was no second-in-command in the party as all were soldiers of Amma, writes Kumar Chellappan
It is almost six years since the AIADMK fountainhead and former Tamil Nadu chief minister
J Jayalalithaa breathed her last. But the struggle to inherit her political legacy and control of the AIADMK goes on. The internecine squabble between various caste groups in the 50-year-old party has turned ugly. The future of the major Opposition hangs in the balance.
The AIADMK general council, the highest decision-making body, recently ousted O Panneerselvam and his four associates from the primary membership of the party and elected Edappadi Palaniswamy as interim general secretary. This after the fight for the control of the party reached the doors of the Supreme Court. The violent street protest by the OPS supporters speaks volumes about the state of affairs in the AIADMK.
Both M.G.Ramachandran, the party’s founder, and Jayalalithaa, his successor, died intestate without any offspring. After Jayalalithaa’s demise, many women came forward claiming to be her daughters. “Many women in their mid-30s claim to be Jayalalithaa’s offspring. Jayalalithaa herself would have been shocked by these claimants had she been around,” said G C Sekhar, a longtime journalist who followed Amma’s news with interest.
Another veteran journalist in Chennai who claimed to be Jayalalithaa’s biographer was not aware of the existence of Deepa and Deepak, her niece and nephew, till Amma’s demise. The world came to know about them when they came out in the open demanding the possession of Veda Nilayam, Jayalalithaa’s imposing bungalow in the high-end Poes Garden locality in Chennai.
The exit of Jayalalithaa left a political vacuum in Tamil Nadu and this is yet to be filled. There was no second-in-command in the party as all were soldiers of Amma. O Panneerselvam was elevated to the post of chief minister on September 21, 2001, when the Supreme Court declared as null and void the action of the then Governor of the State swearing her in as chief minister despite her conviction and sentencing by a Special Court in a corruption case.
It was not because of any leadership qualities of Panneerselvam that he was handpicked by Jayalalithaa for the top job. She knew well that he would resign even without her asking once the Court clears her name in the case. Panneerselvam had no hesitation in accepting the fact that he was a puppet. “Sir, I am here because Amma could not function as chief minister because of the court verdict. Once the court clears her name, she would be back,” was his standard reply to queries. He even declined to sit on the chair used by Amma and functioned from his cabin in the secretariat. The second time he assumed the chief minister’s post was when the Special Court sentenced Jayalalithaa to four years imprisonment in the disproportionate case. Once the Karnataka High Court acquitted her of all charges, Panneerselavam quit facilitating the return of his Amma to Fort Saint George. It was the sudden demise of Jayalalithaa that led to his coronation as chief minister for the third time (early hours of 6, December 2016).
Jayalalithaa’s passing away led to a series of events in the AIADMK about which the Dravidian-dominated Tamil media refuse to write. The first question that remains unasked is the raison d’etre of V K Sasikala (personal aide of Jayalalithaa) and members of her Mannargudi clan in Veda Nilayam. Sasikala and her family members were ousted by Jayalalithaa from Veda Nilayam in October 2011. Amma issued a directive to the party cadres not to have any kind of ties with Sasikala and her relations, claiming they brought disrepute to the party. The action was welcomed by the party cadres by bursting crackers marking an early Diwali in the State. But Sasikala managed to re-enter Veda Nilayam by tendering a public apology in which she declared that her life was dedicated to serving Akka (elder sister), and she would stay away from all other activities including politics. But on the morning of December 6, 2016, when Jayalalithaa’s mortal remains were lying in state at the Government Estate in Chennai, the entire Mannargudi gang was seen sitting around the coffin! TTV Dhinakaran, who had been ousted much earlier from the party as well as Vedha Nilayam was seen supervising the show. Nobody, including Panneerselvam or Palaniswamy, could explain how he managed to infiltrate Veda Nilayam.
The moment the Tamil Nadu Police sounded the Last Post for Jayalalithaa, Sasikala started her machinations to usurp the party and government. Panneerselvam was summoned to Veda Nilayam and was forced to sign his resignation letter. The next day Sasikala was elected as the legislature party leader. and it was decided to hold her swearing-in ceremony on February 13 at the Madras University Centenary Hall. But the Supreme Court pronounced its verdict upholding the Special Court order sentencing Sasikala and two others to four years of rigorous imprisonment in the disproportionate asset case. So, on the day she was expected to swear in as chief minister, Sasikala surrendered before the superintendent of Parappana Agrahara Central Jail to serve her imprisonment.
It was Edappadi Palaniswamy who was sworn in as chief minister instead of Sasikala. But Dhinakaran, who was appointed as deputy general secretary by Sasikala, started calling the shots. Palaniswamy was a sitting duck as Dhinakaran sent out the message that the former should report to him on all issues. Dhinakaran declared himself as the party candidate for the by-poll to be held at R K Nagar hitherto represented by Jayalalithaa. His mission was to become the chief minister once he got elected to the assembly. But that did not work out because Palaniswamy and Panneerselvam buried the hatchet and unitedly took on Dhinakaran. Dhinakaran won the bout at R K Nagar, but he and Sasikala were eased out of their positions and ousted from the AIADMK in the general council meeting held in September 2017. Though some legislators declared
their support for Dhinakaran and ended up losing their membership, Palaniswamy functioned effectively as chief minister for the next four years. Meanwhile, Dhinakaran launched an outfit by the name AMMK with Sasikala’s blessings.
Panneerselvam, who had no leadership qualities other than his devotion to Jayalalithaa, thought that the chief ministership as well as the post of general secretary belonged to him and started maneuvering to emerge as the unchallenged leader of the party. But he was no match for Palaniswamy, a cool player who succeeded in winning friends and influencing people.
Though Dravidian parties claim that there is no communalism and casteism in Tamil Nadu, it continues to be the most caste-ridden society in South India. The upper caste Hindus do not allow the Harijans to stay anywhere near their locality. This writer has experienced the two-tumbler system prevailing in many districts. Tes shops serve tea to Harijans in separate tumblers even as cops deployed to oversee the eradication of untouchability watch silently. That much for the social justice propagated by the Dravidian politics which has been governing the State since 1967.
The AIADMK has been dominated by the Thevar community to which Sasikala and her clan belong. Panneerselvam too is a Thevar. Palaniswamy belongs to the Gaunder community. While there was a feeling that the Thevars may rally around Sasikala and Dhinakaran, it has not happened. Palaniswamy has succeeded in mobilizing the Thevar community around him and only a miracle could help Sasikala and her acolytes to bounce back. “She has a lot of money and can buy over people. But Palaniswamy has proved to be a tough nut to crack,” said R Rajagopalan, veteran political commentator.
He said the weakening of AIADMK is a setback for the nationalist forces in the State. “Whether the BJP could make political capital out of this situation is not known. The Hindutva party has a strong and young leader in K Annamalai. But that alone would not help the party to fill the space vacated by the AIADMK,” said Rajagopalan.
The career of Panneerselvam has suffered a setback as he does not have even a single associate with any mass base. Moreover, it is known all over the State that he is devoid of any leadership qualities. His moves to bring back Sasikala to the party and anoint her to a top position has not gone down well with the people.
Sasikala herself is a picture of contradiction. Though she tried to hijack the AIADMK, she had to drop the plan as the cadres are not enthusiastic about her intentions. Despite her declaration that she was quitting active politics (and that too for the second time), the lady moves around claiming herself as the general secretary of the AIADMK!
The AIADMK may be down now, but it is the principal opposition party in the State. Though it lost the May 2021 assembly election, the party managed to poll 39.72 percent votes against the DMK’s 45.38 percent. There was no Jayalalithaa to campaign and the party had to face hostile media which was highly supportive of the DMK. The 2024 Lok Sabha polls would tell us more about the future of the AIADMK. It is not known whether Sasikala, Dhinakaran, and company would be able to make any difference to the fortunes of the party. Sasikala may be a good reader but she is not a leader. The lady cannot make a public speech and she reads out from papers handed down to her by hangers-on.
“Even Rabri Devi, wife of Laloo Prasad Yadav was better informed than Sasikala,” says a scribe who has been following Sasikala’s antecedents. Jayalalithaa’s ‘Woman Friday’ has miles to go before she graduates into the big league of politics because it is not her cup of tea. She may be good in palace intrigues but that alone does not qualify her as a leader. If Palaniswamy manages to cobble up an alliance with like-minded parties, it is the end of the road for Sasikala and Panneerselvam. Interestingly, Panneerselvam is the only leader in the post-Jayalalithaa genre who is struggling to promote his son to sustain the dynasty. The whole of Tamil Nadu is agog with reports that Panneerselvam, Sasikala, and Chief Minister M K Stalin are handed in gloves to demolish the AIADMK.
(The writer is a senior journalist with The Pioneer)