Jayalalithaa's current term - Part 2

Related old posts:

Jayalalithaa's First Term - A Recap

Jayalalithaa's current term - Part 1

Muthuvelar Karunanidhi's arrest in July 2001 by Jayalalithaa government turned out to be a boon in itself for DMK. First, it brought Karunanidhi's two warring sons - MK Stalin & MK Azhagiri to an easy truce, which was much needed in the DMK's first family. Next, PMK - which had only few months earlier quit the DMK alliance to ally with Jayalalithaa came back begging to DMK. Last and more importantly, the general public got the opinion that Karunanidhi's arrest was an act of high-handedness.

With water woes in Chennai adding to the depressed mood of the public, the air of anti-incumbency started to blow right at the beginning of Jaya's term. Jaya might have had only few sympathisers when Justice S.P.Bharucha led Supreme Court bench gave a stunning verdict that her appointment as the Chief Minister is unconstitutional. She handpicked O Panneerselvam - a first time MLA and an unknown face outside of his Periyakulam constituency, to take charge of Chief Ministership. She picked out Panneerselvam overriding all the party seniors to ensure that the new incumbent doesn't seize any advantage of power even inadervently. One need not have to be an Einstein or Newton to workout who called the shots in the Government. At that time, it was even rumoured that Panneerselvam's movement inside his house was being monitored by closed circuit television cameras.

Jayalalithaa, however stormed back to power when Supreme Court cleared her in the TANSI case, though the highest court of the land passed severe strictures against her and even asked her to "atone" by "answering her conscience". She got elected from Andipatti constituency, which was kept warm for her by Thanga Tamizh Selvan. Jayalalithaa's date with the court is not over yet as the 'disproportionate wealth' case was transferred to a special court in Karnataka, though not much has progressed on that case so far.

Jayalalithaa's government was continued to be seen as an oppressive regime for various reasons. Though she kept the so-called 'Mannargudi family' under reasonable check when compared to her first term, imprisonment of Vaiko for about 19 months under POTA had more political colours attached to it rather than national security, as was perceived. When the government staff went on strikein July 2003 protesting on some pension issue, she dismissed nearly 1,70,000 of them in one stroke. This writer however feels that she was right on both of the above issues, but more on that separately. Jayalalithaa, who inherited empty coffers when she took power in 2001 did her best in reviving the state's economy through some tough but unpopular measures. In the first two years of her term, she had as many as four Chief Secretaries and her administration started to be known for the transfer of 'incompatible' officials. She also invited trouble & controversy over her plans to build a new secretariat by demolishing Queen Mary's College in Chennai.

Jaya's frosty relationship with the press continued and she has filed record number of defamation cases against the management of several newspapers. Jayalalithaa even moved a privilege motion against 'The Hindu', for which the assembly speaker ordered the arrest of the editors & senior correspondents. The State police infamously hunted for the journalists, which drew nationwide attention. Later, Supreme Court came to the rescue of 'The Hindu' with Jaya getting an egg on her face.
A combination of all these & the DMK led grand alliance of 7 parties resulted in AIADMK drawing a blank in 2004 Parliamentary elections, which was contested in alliance with BJP. If there was one turning point in Jayalalithaa's way of conduct, it was the 2004 General Elections. She started following an amicable approach right from rolling back all the tough measures she took in the previous three years at the saddle. All the controversial measures like ban on animal sacrifice at the temples, ban on forced conversion, decision on pensions etc were reversed in a matter of weeks. Giving further goose bumps to opposition, she announced loads of freebies to almost every section of the society.

Jaya's change of style brought change in her fortunes too. The elusive sandalwood smuggler Veerappan was shot dead by the police in October 2004. To give her due credit, Jayalalithaa was never soft on Veerappan unlike her predecessor M. Karunanidhi and firmly believed that there should be no negotiations with criminals like him. Chennai's water woes got a temporary reprieve when the New Veeranam project got implemented. Though there were several complaints over it later on, it did create an impression in the public that she tried her best on that front. Film industry rallied behind her when she introduced tough anti-piracy laws. Even though these measures were not fool proof, it was a good first step.

Jayalalithaa's broke her pro-Hindu image and moved towards the secular bandwagon when she had Kanchi Shankaracharya arrested on murder charges on Diwali day in 2004. For quite a long time, Kanchi Shankaracharya was considered to be an advisor of Jayalalithaa and it was believed that he was the man behind the ban on forced conversions. Somewhere in the past, they fell apart and by having him arrested on murder charges, Jayalalithaa created an image that she is impartial & effective administrator. However, in a bid to humiliate him further, she went overboard and denied him a fair trial, which was also observed by Supreme Court, which transferred the case to neighbouring Pondicherry.

Though 2004 ended on a sad note on account of Tsunami, the State Government earned kudos from many corners for effectively handling the relief. It is being said that normal life has returned for good measure in the coastal areas, which were devastated in an unprecedented way. Industrial sector started to look good with majors like Nokia, BMW planning to set up plants in the outskirts of Chennai. It was both ugly & interesting to see Jayalalithaa & Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran claiming credit for almost every development in Tamil Nadu. Jaya was sailing smooth in 2005 and every one expected her to bring forward the Assembly elections while the tide is in her favour. She however chose to complete the term.

2005 was a rainy year for Tamilnadu. Capital Chennai & the rest of Tamilnadu received record rainfall that Cauvery was gushing throughout. By now, Jayalalithaa had learnt her lessons in politics very well. She very well knew that people ought to remember more of what happened in the most recent past than any grand plans that would take shape after few years. She ordered a relief of Rs.2,000 to almost all the residents of rain affected areas. This writer feels that it is one single act of her government that certainly went down well with the public and is certain to reflect in the May elections. The timing was so perfect and implementation very effective that the money in cash reached the hands of the people just few months before the elections was announced.

Compared to her first term (1991-96), Jayalalithaa Jayaram's second term was more reasonable. This term had its own share of controversies, personal vendettas, stupidities, blame games, mismanagement, prostrations and what not. But it also had its own share of constructive elements as well. If Jayalalithaa manages to negotiate the incumbency factor & manages to scrape through, this writer feels that it would be the case of people feeling "give the devil its due".