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STATES: ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2001

Amma Turns Red

Her election hopes dashed by the disqualification, Jayalalitha makes her campaign more aggressive

By Arun Ram

Isn't she the Rosappoo Amma (the rose of a mother, a typical Tamil tribute to her complexion)? But when J. Jayalalitha, the supreme leader of the AIADMK, started her election campaign on April 18 after filing her nominations from Krishnagiri and Andipatti, she looked pale.

Six days later, when her nomination papers were rejected under Section 8 (3) of the Representation of People Act (which disqualifies a person "convicted by a trial court for an offence and sentenced for imprisonment of more than two years"), Amma regained her rosappoo colour-red. No written speech, no air-conditioned Tempo. She got into an open jeep and screamed "conspiring Karunanidhi". The AIADMK may have lost chief minister Jayalalitha but her fans have got their Rosappoo Amma back.

JAYA JUGGERNAUT: (Left) The AIADMK chief in her campaign van; Dinakaran (right) is being seen as a possible alternative though he too is an accused in corruption cases

With four returning officers (of Krishnagiri, Andipatti, Bhuvanagiri and Pudukottai) saying a unanimous "no" to Jayalalitha counsel's arguments more than six months after a special court had convicted and sentenced her to three years rigorous imprisonment in the Tansi land deal case, Jayalalitha, propelled by a formidable alliance, has every reason to be shattered by the sight of the wreckage of her comeback fantasy.

But Jayalalitha on the stump seems to be the lady of eternal hope, though the distance between hope and reality is growing and waves of sympathy are not filling the gap. Even if she is to ride the crest of a delayed wave, chief ministership will remain a distant destination. For, the governor will have to decide on administering the oath to a person convicted in a corruption case, a person who has already been found ineligible to contest an election.

Jayalalitha had tried her best to defy the rules. After appeals in the Madras High Court to suspend the conviction, she brought former West Bengal chief minister and lawyer Siddhartha Shankar Ray to make submissions before the Krishnagiri returning officer. Taking everyone by surprise, AIADMK partymen filed two more nominations (besides Krishnagiri and Andipatti) in her name in Bhuvanagiri and Pudukottai minutes before the deadline. This went against the Handbook for Returning Officers, which says that a candidate's nomination could be rejected if "the candidate has been nominated from more than two constituencies of the same class of a general election". Now she has nowhere to contest from except in the hearts of Tamils.

 

 
Why Chief Ministership Is
So Far Away

The law, not Karunanidhi, is Jayalalitha's enemy No.1 now. The law has denied her the right to contest from four constituencies. Her nomination papers were rejected under Section 8 (3) of the Representation of People Act, which disqualifies a person "convicted by a trial court for an offence and sentenced for imprisonment of more than two years".

Post-election, Jayalalitha's only hope to make it to the chief ministership is the governor. However, legal experts feel that Governor Fathima Beevi, who is a former Supreme Court judge, cannot overlook the fact that the claimant is a convict, one who has already been found ineligible to become a legislator. Other options like challenging the returning officer's decision or going to a court will be time consuming. However, that may not stop Jayalalitha from claiming chief ministership on the assurance that she will get elected within six months. But the returning officers have already made that hope redundant.

The immediate goal is to ensure the victory of at least 118 of her 141 candidates so that the AIADMK gets a majority in the 234-seat Assembly. That, Jayalalitha believes, needs aggression. Hence her transformation from a lady wronged to a woman scorned. The contrast between her campaign before and after April 24 is unmistakable. During the first leg of her election tour, Jayalalitha presented herself as a mellowed leader even while attacking those "people trying to prevent me from contesting elections" and seldom indulged in histrionics.

But post-disqualification Jayalalitha is an angry woman. "Finding me an obstacle in making his son M.K. Stalin the next chief minister, Karunanidhi has threatened officials and asked them to reject my nominations," she roared from atop an open vehicle at a public meeting in Pudukottai, her fingers so decisively pointed towards some unseen entity that many turned their heads to see if the chief minister was really somewhere there. "It's time we put an end to his efforts to establish a dynasty."

Then, lyrics from an old Tamil song:"Angey sirripappavargal sirikkattum-adhu aanava sirippu,/ Ingey nee sirikkum punsirippo aanandha sirrupu;/ nalla theerppai ulagam sollum naal varumpothu,/ angey sirripavar yaar azhubavar yaar therium appothu (Let those who laugh out there, laugh,/ That's the laugh of arrogance;/ When the world gives the real verdict,/ We'll see who laughs and who cries)."

The chief minister, who earlier "predicted" Jayalalitha's papers would be rejected, says, "There is nothing for me to rejoice about. The law has taken its course." Jayalalitha's alliance partners continue to be sympathetic, at least in public. While TMC leader G.K. Moopanar terms the turn of events "unfortunate", TNCC President E.V.K.S. Elangovan hopes the alliance will sweep the polls.