| STATES:
TAMIL NADU
Caught In The Dark Act
Jayalalitha begins to feel the heat of her decision
as friends turn foes and resentment grows
By Arun Ram
|
|
|
|
|
PAYING BACK: Ramadoss finds the excuse to get back at Jayalalitha
|
The inevitable aftermath
of the midnight arrest of M. Karunanidhi is gradually dawning on Chief
Minister J. Jayalalitha: the PMK, an ally in the recent assembly elections,
has walked out of the AIADMK-led alliance; the judiciary is becoming firm;
the bureaucracy is unhappy and the police are confused. Even the mood
of the public, which handed her alliance a landslide victory in the elections
two months ago, seems to be one of anger.
It is a situation Jayalalitha probably did not
envisage three weeks ago. But political repercussions are not obedient
to egoistic dreams. The way in which the former chief minister was dragged
out of his house in the early hours of June 30 was met with widespread
condemnation. Jayalalitha was first jolted by the reaction of her allies
such as the TMC, Congress, CPI and CPI(M). To add to her chagrin, PMK
leader S. Ramadoss met Karunanidhi at the Chennai Central Prison on July
4. "I cannot barter self-respect for political gains," Ramadoss
said, announcing the decision to walk out of the alliance.
Jayalalitha, whose party has a two-thirds majority
in the Assembly, kept Ramadoss waiting for an appointment and went back
on her promise to give his son Anbumani a Rajya Sabha seat. The Karunanidhi
arrest came at an apt time for Ramadoss to pour venom on Jayalalitha.
He is now in touch with the NDA leaders for a re-entry ticket. Irrespective
of whether the PMK gets accommodated in the NDA, rubbing Ramadoss the
wrong way will weaken the AIADMK's prospects in the local body elections
scheduled for October.
|
|
|
|
TABLES TURNED: The accusing fingers are now pointing at the AIADMK
supreme
|
|
There is silent rejoicing among the other allies
of the AIADMK. A section of the Congress, led by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee
(TNCC) President E.V.K.S. Elangovan, is trying to pressure the party high
command to fight the local body polls on its own. "This is the right
time for the Congress to emerge as an alternative to the two Dravidian
parties," says a TNCC leader. Another fallout of the fortnight's
developments is that the AIADMK allies have got a rare taste of self-respect.
"We were never heard till the episode," says an alliance leader.
"Now Amma cannot afford to treat us badly." The Congress will
be the deciding factor in the Rajya Sabha if a proposal to invoke Article
356 is mooted. Contrary to Jayalalitha's earlier statement in Delhi that
there was no alliance with the Congress, AIADMK MP M. Thambidurai, her
emissary to the Congress high command, announced last week that the Congress
was an integral part of the AIADMK combine.
Other allies too are not blindly endorsing all
that the AIADMK supremo does. The Left issued a statement condemning the
manner of the arrest following it up, of course, with another flaying
the Centre's reported move to dismiss the state Government. The MDMK is
silent as its leader Vaiko is on a visit to the US.
Perhaps the worst assault on the government
machinery came from the judiciary. Principal Sessions Judge Ashok Kumar
remanded Karunanidhi and M.K. Stalin in judicial custody but hearing a
bail application in the flyover scam case, he questioned the urgency in
arresting the former chief minister and the intention behind entrusting
the investigation to the Crime Branch-CID and not the Vigilance Commission.
"The investigating officer had claimed earlier that the entire case
rested on documentary evidence. All the documents are with you. Where
is the need for keeping the accused in prison?" the judge asked.
The stunned state Government has filed an appeal in the high court to
expunge some of the observations made by Kumar.
Adding to Jayalalitha's woes is the IAS officers'
association which has condemned the arrest of former chief secretary K.A.
Nambiar, who enjoys an impeccable reputation, as an accused in the flyover
scam. The bureaucracy feels it is being reduced to a mere pawn in games
that politicians play. The police fraternity, too, is not amused with
the kind of publicity it has been getting.
The manner of Karunanidhi's arrest is likely
to be a major factor in the local body polls. Which perhaps explains why,
despite the state Election Commission saying that the polls should be
held before October 24 "under the existing laws", there are
enough indications that Jayalalitha would defer them. Says an AIADMK alliance
partner: "Another election may trigger talks of a political reconfiguration
which may not be in the interests of the chief minister."
Despite her impressive landslide victory, Jayalalitha
knows she cannot afford to sit pretty.
|
METRO TODAY
Web
Exclusives
