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After a five year hibernation, AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa Jayaram returned to power in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu with a thumping majority. Belying media speculations, Amma (Mother) or Puratchi Talaivi (Party Leader) as she is fondly addressed by her supporters, Jayalalithaa and her alliance partners won 204 seats out of 234 constituencies that went to polls for the state assembly elections this year.
If there is one Indian political leader who commands absolute loyalty of the party members in Tamil Nadu, it is the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) supremo, Jayalalithaa Jayaram. She is a former Tamil Nadu chief minister and the present opposition leader. She shocked the nation when national dailies carried pictures of her ministers and party members prostrating before her.
The freedom struggle was spearheaded by the Indian National Congress which was dominated by Brahmins. So, there was a fear that Brahmins would dominate the post-independence politics in Tamil Nadu. The Justice Party (which was later renamed Dravidar Kazhagam) was founded by non-Brahmins in 1917 to counter this threat. Later, Annadurai floated the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) following differences with Periayar who was heading the Dravidar Kazhagam at that time.
It is a paradox of sorts that the AIADMK which is a splinter group of DMK meant to fight Brahmin domination is today headed by Jayalalithaa who is a high caste Iyengar Brahmin.
Much as it might seem, the AIADMK was not founded by Annadurai. AIADMK was launched by Jayalalithaa’s political mentor M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) years after the death of Annadurai when MGR parted ways with M. Karunanidhi. Annadurai launched DMK which is currently headed by M. Karunanidhi.
All prominent political leaders in Tamil Nadu have a strong bonding with the cine-world. Annadurai and Karunanidhi were scriptwriters and are known to have used films to propagate the ideology of their party. MGR and Jayalalithaa were heartthrobs of the masses having acted in over a hundred films each.
Annadurai used to be fondly addressed as “Anna” meaning “elder brother.” Jayalalithaa is addressed as “Amma” meaning “mother.” Jayalalitha is also known as “Puratchi Thalaivi” which means revolutionary leader inheriting the title from her mentor MGR.
Though Jayalalithaa joined the AIADMK in 1981 and was later nominated to the Rajya Sabha, her political fortune went for a toss when the matinee idol and her mentor MGR died as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. A tug-of-war ensued between MGR’s woman (wife Janaki Ramachandran) and the other woman (Jayalalithaa Jayaram).
Initially, the AIADMK supported Janaki and installed her as the first woman chief minister of Tamil Nadu thereby causing a split in the party. But, in the next election, Jayalalithaa’s faction swept the polls on sympathy votes from being projected as a “wronged” woman and also because of her alliance with the congress party whose leader Rajiv Gandhi had been assassinated. She became the first elected woman chief minister of Tamil Nadu and went on to unify both the factions of the party.
Both Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa are known for their vendetta politics and both have taken turns to get the other arrested and jailed. Both of them have corruption charges leveled against them.
When Jayalalithaa took over as chief minister of Tamil Nadu in 2001, she inherited empty coffers and a neglected state from Karunanidhi. Tamil Nadu witnessed some development and improvement during her regime. But, she too mired in corruption charges like her predecessor. In 2006, she lost the elections giving way to another round of Karunanidhi in which he and his family have all but ruined the state. Amma is faced with a situation in Tamil Nadu similar to when she took over reins of Tamil Nadu in 2001. The state is crying out for infra-structure development and good governance. One hopes that Jayalalithaa has learnt from her past mistakes.
One of the greatest fallouts of the 2011 assembly elections could be the situation in which the Karunanidhi family may find itself in the 2G spectrum case. The wipe out of DMK from Tamil Nadu may have them running for cover as they have lost their bargaining power with New Delhi.
In any case, when the choice is between two corrupt governments, it makes sense to go with the one that is less corrupt. That, I think, is where Jayalalithaa scores over Karunanidhi. During their last stint from 2006 to 2011, Karunanidhi and his family had turned Tamil Nadu politics into their family business though the seeds for that were sown much earlier.
The silver lining in the cloud is that unlike Karunanidhi and his family who ruled Tamil Nadu like their fiefdom and family business, it is at best a sole proprietorship for Jayalalithaa if worst comes to worst. That is some relief!
