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Amma Mia
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  On Monday, May 14, 2001, Amma achieved what she had been saying for the last month. On that evening J Jayalalithaa (she spells her name with double 'aa' at the end, thanks to numerologists' advice) was sworn in for a second time as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu at a hastily arranged function in a stuffy room at the otherwise spacious Raj Bhavan in Chennai.Fathima Beevi, a former Supreme Court judge, performed with aplomb her present role of Governor of the State and promptly invited Jayalalitha to form the next Government, based on the unanimous choice of Amma by her delirious MLAs. Long live sisterhood! Obviously, we believe that the lady knows her law though the latter may require a few lessons. The speed of the events took almost all by surprise though there was a nagging feeling she did this to forestall any judicial hurdle through what has now become ''a free for all'' - public interest litigation. The presence of the tall Siddhartha Shankar Ray, a former chief minister of West Bengal and a legal luminary at the swearing-in ceremony lent credence to the "nagging feeling". At her first Press meet at the Secretariat at the historic Fort St George later in the evening, she promised - hark ye all doubting Thomases - an efficient and corruption free, clean Government. Well you know the old PT Barnum adage, Jayalalitha lives by it. Last week's election in Tamil Nadu has proved a few things and disproved a few others. As Amma herself observed 'she was written off, the AIADMK was written off' but to the chagrin of many, including the media, she is now back. And HOW! In almost 11 districts not a single MLA for the rival DMK front has been returned. Even Chennai considered for long a citadel of the DMK, has yielded as many as four seats. One woman DMK Minister was trounced in the city and the Deputy Speaker himself squeaked through with a mere 85 votes. In Madurai in the south, the Speaker himself was defeated. Nearly 15 former ministers failed to return. It was almost like reliving 1996 when the AIADMK and Amma were simply swept off by a tidal wave of revulsion at the public ostentation and alleged corruption and open lawlessness. The wave this time was in her favour. A little crestfallen, the old fighter M Karunanidhi, the chief of DMK, for long found solace in the absolute number of votes garnered by his front. He said he got nearly 10.5 votes as against 14 million mustered by Amma. His present bete noire Vaiko of MDMK who spoiled the chances of the DMK front in at least two dozen seats had to be satisfied, with no seat, but with a little more than a million votes. The BJP could win in just four places out of the 21 given to it; significantly it lost its sitting member who provided that party a tenuous foothold in the southernmost district of Kanyakumari in 1996. What next in Tamil Nadu? Jayalalithaa will now have to get her innocence established in all pending cases or at least get judicial reprieve in Madras High Court or Supreme Court so that she can continue in the gaddi which she will have to vacate, otherwise, in six months. Her time may be divided (equally?) between battling poverty in the State and battling court cases, against her own prosperity, in Chennai and New Delhi. Though Jayalalithaa has said she will not be vindictive (read Karunanidhi) she added she will not either spare any law-breaker (read again Karunanidhi), events in the next few months in the State may generate their own momentum. In neighbouring Kerala, the anti incumbency factor was more palpable than in Tamil Nadu where it was latent and seems to have erupted on the polling day. The bitter and open quarrel between the Congress stalwarts, K Karunakaran and AK Antony for weeks before the poll made its prospects suspect. Somehow, the Congressman's addiction to the diktats of the High Command worked again and Karunakaran withdrew his threats. The outcome of the poll was emphatic. Karunakaran again threw some more tantrums only to meekly recall them and acquiesce in what will become a certainty - AK Antony's stewardship for the next five years. The outgoing Left Front had its own share of troubles with an aging leadership and a couple of scandals like the usual liquor lobby. What got the headlines however was the acceptance of the nomination papers of convicted former minister but a sitting MLA Balakrishna Pillai. The controversy raged for a few days and Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu used it with alacrity and appealed to the voters that she has been prevented by Karunanidhi from even contesting the polls whereas Balakrishna Pillai was allowed to contest, in next door Kerala. That upturned logic seems to have worked to some extent in the rural areas where Karunanidhi was perceived to be the villain. Another strange thing between the two southern states was the Congress and the Communists were on the same side with Amma opposing DMK misrule whereas they were at each other's throats to capture power in god's own country that is Kerala. Diversity is the essence of Indian politics but the underlying unity is in power-seeking! T Kannan is a Chennai-based online writer RECENTLY ON JAAL: Poll Vault: The Rough Guide Delhi's Traffic Jam Being Believed Extinct Exists!! Truth Or Bare Holi Wholly Unholy Asking For The Moon Excise Excise Bush Speechless The Moron's Hack Miss Whirl Chatterbox 6 Chatterbox 5 Chatterbox 4 Chatterbox 3 Chatterbox 2 Chatterbox 1 Cloud Nine The Son Always Shines Glam Slam Autonomy Retort The Sri Lankan Mulberry Bush Take The Green Quiz A Tiger By The Tail 1000000000+ Chandrachud Rereported The Second Coming Of Bill Are You A Bollywood Buff? SEND US YOUR FEEDBACK ABOUT THIS ARTICLE:
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