Will the spectre of vindictive politics raise its ugly head once again in Tamil Nadu? With the AIADMK securing a majority on its own and J. Jayalalithaa set to take over the reins of the state, this is one question that has come to haunt many political players in the state. Both the DMK and the AIADMK are notorious for taking on their rivals with a vengeance after assuming power and their actions during their previous regimes are a case in point.
The midnight arrests of DMK patriarch Karunanidhi (in 2001) and that of the Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati (in 2004) would certainly evoke such apprehensions in many a heart. The people in the state still talk in hushed tones about the sacking of over 1 lakh government employees at one go during the czarina's previous tenure. Their crime was that they didn't heed the then chief minister's advice and went ahead with a strike to press for their demands.
On its part, the DMK had hauled her over the coal by slapping her with a slew of corruption cases and setting up three special courts to try her. Arrested in December 1991, Jayalalithaa had spent more than one month in prison. The jewellery and other items secured during a raid on her residence were repeatedly shown on TV with the intention of maligning her.
To be fair to her, the diva herself acknowledged in a recent TV interview that nothing remains static and time has a mellowing effect on everyone. But there are many who believe that the tiger can't change its stripes. If her first tenure (1991-96) was marked by a witch hunt of the Opposition as well as the media - there were over 100 defamation cases filed against various publications - the second term was not totally free from such acts of vendetta. However, in her second term as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa did not pursue the cases against archrival M. Karunanidhi and his son M.K. Stalin to the logical end. The cases were allowed to lapse. After the AIADMK was whitewashed in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, she appeared to be atoning for her sins. The mass dismissal of government employees was revoked by the Anti-Conversion Law.
Though Karunanidhi's action of filing a slew of defamation cases By M.C. Rajan in Chennai against Jayalalithaa and several other senior AIADMK functionaries days before demitting office cannot be termed anything but in poor taste, it would now give the czarina an honest alibi to beat him with the same stick. This is notwithstanding the fact that her ardent apologists, including the saffron ideologue Cho Ramaswamy, vouch that she would be different this time round.
But if one goes by the events during the 2011 election campaign, she appears to have not changed or chastised much during the past five years. First, she did not carry out a joint campaign with the AIADMK allies, save for the lone show at Coimbatore which even actor-politico Vijaykant had boycotted for the lack of protocol. The way she ditched her long-time ally, Vaiko of the MDMK, and unilaterally released the list of election candidates, bringing the coalition almost to the brink of collapse, is another pointer to the fact that she remains the same old Jayalalithaa.
Despite these indicators, there are huge expectations that she will be a different chief minister this time and would hopefully give up on the politics of vendetta. What prompts such wishful thinking is also the fact that the DMK has refrained from disturbing her in a big way all through the past five years the party was in power in Tamil Nadu. And it may be time for her to reciprocate the gesture.
The midnight arrests of DMK patriarch Karunanidhi (in 2001) and that of the Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati (in 2004) would certainly evoke such apprehensions in many a heart. The people in the state still talk in hushed tones about the sacking of over 1 lakh government employees at one go during the czarina's previous tenure. Their crime was that they didn't heed the then chief minister's advice and went ahead with a strike to press for their demands.
On its part, the DMK had hauled her over the coal by slapping her with a slew of corruption cases and setting up three special courts to try her. Arrested in December 1991, Jayalalithaa had spent more than one month in prison. The jewellery and other items secured during a raid on her residence were repeatedly shown on TV with the intention of maligning her.
To be fair to her, the diva herself acknowledged in a recent TV interview that nothing remains static and time has a mellowing effect on everyone. But there are many who believe that the tiger can't change its stripes. If her first tenure (1991-96) was marked by a witch hunt of the Opposition as well as the media - there were over 100 defamation cases filed against various publications - the second term was not totally free from such acts of vendetta. However, in her second term as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa did not pursue the cases against archrival M. Karunanidhi and his son M.K. Stalin to the logical end. The cases were allowed to lapse. After the AIADMK was whitewashed in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, she appeared to be atoning for her sins. The mass dismissal of government employees was revoked by the Anti-Conversion Law.
Though Karunanidhi's action of filing a slew of defamation cases By M.C. Rajan in Chennai against Jayalalithaa and several other senior AIADMK functionaries days before demitting office cannot be termed anything but in poor taste, it would now give the czarina an honest alibi to beat him with the same stick. This is notwithstanding the fact that her ardent apologists, including the saffron ideologue Cho Ramaswamy, vouch that she would be different this time round.
But if one goes by the events during the 2011 election campaign, she appears to have not changed or chastised much during the past five years. First, she did not carry out a joint campaign with the AIADMK allies, save for the lone show at Coimbatore which even actor-politico Vijaykant had boycotted for the lack of protocol. The way she ditched her long-time ally, Vaiko of the MDMK, and unilaterally released the list of election candidates, bringing the coalition almost to the brink of collapse, is another pointer to the fact that she remains the same old Jayalalithaa.
Despite these indicators, there are huge expectations that she will be a different chief minister this time and would hopefully give up on the politics of vendetta. What prompts such wishful thinking is also the fact that the DMK has refrained from disturbing her in a big way all through the past five years the party was in power in Tamil Nadu. And it may be time for her to reciprocate the gesture.
Following is the list of Tamil Nadu ministers and portfolios.
(1) J.Jayalalithaa — Chief Minister, Public,Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service, Indian Forest Service, General Administration, District Revenue Officers, Prevention of Corruption, Police, Home
(2) O.Panneerselvam — Finance
(3) K.A.Sengottaiyan — Agriculture
(4) Natham R.Viswanathan — Electricity, Prohibition and Excise
(5) K.P.Munisamy — Municipal Administration, Rural Development
(6) C.Shanmugavelu — Industries
(7) R.Vaithilingam — Housing and Urban Development
(8) S.S.Krishnamoorthy — Food
(9) C.Karuppasamy — Animal Husbandary
(10) P.Palaniappan — Higher Education
(11) C.Ve.Shanmugam — School Education
(12) Sellur K.Raju — Cooperation
(13) K.T.Pachamal — Forests
(14) Edappadi K.Palanisamy — Highways and Minor Ports
(15) S.P.Shanmuganathan — HR & CE
(16) K.V.Ramalingam — Public Works
(17) S.P.Velumani — Special Programme Implementation
(18) T.K.M.Chinnayya — Backward Classes
(19) M.C.Sampath — Rural Industries
(20) P.Thangamani — Revenue
(21) G.Senthamizhan — Information
(22) S.Gokula Indira — Commerical Taxes and Registration
(23) Selvi Ramajayam — Social Welfare
(24) B.V.Ramanaa — Handlooms and Textiles
(25) R.B.Udhayakumar — Information and Technology
(26) N.Subramanian — Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare
(27) V.Senthil Balaji — Transport
(28) N.Mariyam Pichai — Environment
(29) K.A.Jayapal — Fisheries
(30) E.Subaya — Law, Courts and Prisons
(31) Budhichandhiran — Tourism
(32) S.T.Chellapandian — Labour
(33) Dr.V.S.Vijay — Health
(34) N.R.Sivapathi — Sports and Youth Welfare
