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Statescan
The thumping
victory of the AIADMK in the assembly bypolls overshadows Jayalalithaa's
dismal governance in the past year. India Today's Arun Ram reports on
the chief minister's renewed confidence.
When
the AIADMK Government completed one year on May 14, the balance sheet
looked blank. In the words of the Tamil Nadu
Congress Committee (TNCC) president, the only landmarks were "one
arrest (Karunanidhi's), two chief ministers (J. Jayalalithaa and O. Paneerselvam)
and three swearing-in ceremonies (Paneerselvam once and Jayalalithaa twice)."
A fortnight later, there was a revision in the stock-taking. With
the AIADMK registering thumping victories in three assembly
constituencies—Saidapet, Vaniyambadi and Acharapakkam—that went
for by-elections, the dismal progress of the government in
the past year had been overshadowed. Things seemed very much under control
for the lady of Poes Garden.
"The results show that the people have full confidence in the
AIADMK Government," the chief minister was quick to point out.,
leaving none in doubt that she was the mighty boss. Not only were her
political opponents silenced, but those within the Government were also
forced to sit up with portfolios of senior ministers and the bureaucracy
being reallocated.
Indeed the renewed confidence with which Jayalalithaa acted was a direct
fallout of the clean sweep that her party had managed. In Acharapakkam,
AIADMK candidate A.B. Moorthy (55,507 votes) defeated PMK's T. Parvendan
(37,590 votes) by a margin of 17,917 votes. Vaniyambadi saw AIADMK candidate
R. Vadivel romping home with a margin of 19,721 votes over the DMK's Nagore
E.M. Haneefa (AIADMK- 63,599; DMK- 43,878). Saidapet, which had a repoll
in 58 booths on June 6, also went into the AIADMK kitty, with Radha Ravi
defeating DMK candidate M. Subramanian by a margin of 11,925 votes.
While the Acharapakkam win demolished the PMK's theory of
indispensability, the Vaniyambadi and Saidapet performance
buttressed the AIADMK claim of invincibility amidst apparent
adversities.
The AIADMK's victory in Vaniyambadi had a historic ring to it.
Contesting as it did after a gap of 22 years, the AIADMK fielded
R. Vadivel, a Hindu candidate, in the Muslim-dominated
constituency. Not many in her shoes would have denied the seat to Indian
National League, after its president and MLA Abdul Lateef passed away,
leaving the seat vacant. The AIADMK had a good majority in the Assembly
(30 seats more than the collective opposition), but Jayalalithaa would
not give away the seat to its then ally, even if it meant the INL breaking
its ties.
When she fielded Vadivel, the DMK nominated singer Nagore E.M.
Haneefa. Jayalalithaa assigned a group of ministers and party
leaders to spread the message that if Vaniyambadi had to see any development,
Vadivel should be part of the treasury benches at Fort St George. That
Haneefa is a Tamil-speaking Muslim, a factor not so favoured by a section
of the Urdu-speaking Muslims in the constituency, added to the DMK's misery.
Finally, Vadivel sang the song of joy.
During her campaign in Acharapakkam, which has a predominently backward
status, Jayalalithaa hinted at new projects to benefit the region. The
constituency, where 70,000 of its voters are Dalits and about 60,000 are
Vanniyars, looked a tough field for the AIADMK, but the voters finally
gave in to the need to be part of the mighty ruling party. What makes
the AIADMK's win more glowing is that it has polled about 11,000 votes
more than what it got last time, when it was in the company of the PMK,
TMC, Congress and the Left parties. The PMK leader, who claimed to be
the "deciding factor" in Acharapakkam, can no longer buttress
his claim that his party was responsible for the AIADMK's win in the May
2001 elections.
Having pushed her political adversaries to the corner, Jayalalithaa targeted
members of her own cabinet and bureaucracy. In the sixth cabinet shuffle
in one year, on June 10, she stripped finance minister C. Ponnaiyan of
the information and technology portfolio and S.M. Veluchamy of industries.
Ponnaiyan, who was No. 2 when Jayalalithaa took over, had already been
deprived of law. Paneerselvam, the "caretaker chief minister"
when Jayalalithaa was away, got the No.2 position when she returned. The
minister most benefited by the reshuffle is electricity minister Nainar
Nagendran, who got industries. A Thevar close to the Sasikala family,
Nagendran is clearly in the good books of Amma.
The same day saw a major shuffling of the bureaucracy, which the chief
minister had earlier dubbed as "lax and laidback." Chief
Secretary R. Shankar was replaced with Sukavaneshwar, principal commissioner,
revenue administration. The chief minister said
Shankar had sought voluntary retirement. What she did not say was that
Shankar was least amused by Jayalalithaa's unkind remarks about the official
machinery. Shankar, who was the petroleum secretary in Delhi, was invited
by Jayalalithaa herself last June.
Another official who "sought voluntary retirment" was V.
Rajagopalan, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption
(DVAC) director. ADGP G. Thilakavathy was given the coveted post. IAS
Officers' Association President N. Athimoolam also got a transfer from
backward classes secretary to the archives department. Athimoolam was
the one who voiced the officials' unhappiness over Jayalalithaa's remark
that she had to "whiplash them like a circus ringmaster."
Notable are some comebacks. N. Narayanan, an IAS officer in the good books
of Jayalalithaa during her "tainted" 1991-1996 tenure, is back
as finance secretary. R. Karpoorasundara Pandian, a co-accused along with
Jayalalithaa in the TANSI land deal case, has been brought in as transport
secretary.
As muffled voices of disgruntlement are being heard among the
officials, it is clear that Jayalalithaa is bent on continuing
with her whiplashing. The Great Chennai Circus goes on.
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