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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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