General elections are round the corner, and almost complete political entity is fostering hopes of being the next premier of the largest democracy in the world. The predictions of a fractured mandate doing the rounds in the political circuit have further augmented the desires of the heads of many regional parties. Jayalalitha is no exception.
One particular sight omnipresent in Chennai these days is of thousands of colorful posters imaging Jayalalitha, the state’s chief minister and AIADMK chief. Almost all the spare walls, billboards, and bus stops are full with her images. Reason behind this act of publicity is her being a PM aspirant in the elections 2014.
The general council of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) wants to see their party chief as the country’s prime minister. She is riding a wave of popularity that could get her the national power. Her party’s conception has made it impossible for the national parties to rule alone in India.
Recently some of the omnipresent pictures of Jayalalitha portrayed her with India’s parliament building in the background. This is pretty much to signal her ambition to become India’s next prime minister.
Being a three time chief minister who returned to power two years ago, Jayalalitha commands politics in a state with both Congress and BJP as irrelevant political forces. “She embodies three of the most important trends in Indian regional politics,” says Jessica Seddon, an American economist, based in Chennai. “She is imperial in style, technocratic in her administrative approach and populist in her politics.”
The strong-headed political figure of eminence, have realistic chances of ascending the seat of power. She under her leadership made Tamil Nadu India’s greatest manufacturing centre and a hub of global companies like Ford and Hyundai. She is a skilled administrator and an arduous politician. This is what makes her capable of playing a national role with much higher responsibilities.
“The polls suggest she is likely to lead the largest third party,” says Praveen Chakravarthy, a Mumbai-based investment banker and political analyst, who grew up in Tamil Nadu. “And under that scenario [when Modi falls short] she would be the frontrunner, the absolutely natural choice, to be prime minister. It could easily happen.”
Indian political history has witnessed surprise prime ministers like I.K. Gujaral, Deve Gowda and like. Similarly, Jayalalitha may also surprise everybody with her success in the elections 2014. However, realization of her ambition solely depends on the voter’s choice and her party’s performance in the 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and neighboring Puducherry.
