The Options before V.N Sasikala, Leader of
AIADMK
The available stock of literature in Tamil Nadu Government and Politics
are very few including those written by the western Scholars. The much known
Robert Hardgrave who was the pioneer western scholar from Berkeley who wrote
the 'The Nadars of Tamilnad: The Political Culture of a Community in Change'
which is widely read would have lost the vital inner three divide of the toddy tapers
as
Nadars, Gramani and the Shanaas,
whereby earned the wrath of intellectual Nadars like Professor Emeritus late C.A
Perumal of Madras University, who was furious how Nadar identity could be
expropriated among the Gramanis and the Shaanaas.
Similarly the works of André
Béteille or Robert W Stern would anchor the socio political spectrum from
western lens called Class and would have made certain over generalisations. One
of the biggest challenges that pose any scholar who writes on Tamil Nadu
Politics is its unpredictability and the mystery of contradictions.
Since its
founding Chief Minister O.P. Ramasamy Reddiar to Jayalalitha, a majority of
Chief Ministers who ruled was non Tamils or rather belong to a identity that
are anti-Tamil. Secondly the identity of Tamil Nationalism cannot be completely
declared as subnational as the rich treasure of Tamil bhakthi literature of
the Tamil poets and saints speak about universal love and peace. Much not known
Ramalinga Swamigal version of nonviolence is far ahead of Thoreau or Gandhi.
The Tamil Siddha tradition is a parallel construct of Vedic Rishis that speaks
of a parallel spiritual establishment in the South of India. The delta district of Thanavur, erstwhile Trichirapalli District is the place where the Nagur
Dharga of Muslims, Shrine Velankanni of the Catholics and numerous temples of
Hindus exist and pilgrims visit all the three holy places. Furthermore the Nagapattinam District that was later carved out
from the erstwhile Trichirapalli District is the cradle of Communist party in
Tamil Nadu. This bundle of inner contradictions or what I can white wash this
peculiar phenomena as multi-faceted social
and political culture of Tamil Nadu. This I view as the shortcoming of Tamil
population as their deficiency in negotiating modernity.
It is inbuilt crisis
in negotiating modernity has not provided the several million youths what next
after the Marina revolution, termed as the second biggest agitation after Anti
Hindi protest in Tamil Nadu.
Midst these developments the news comes of V.N.Sasikala
(read my earlierblog post on her) the aide of late Jayalalitha, the iconic leader of AIADMK
political party elected as the Leader of ruling party and obviously the Chief
Minister designate. O.Panneerselvam the Chief Minister is also shown the doors
and he might be lost in the pages of history in the near future.
Let me examine the aruguments that
are justified by the mercenaries of V.N.Sasikala within the top ranks of AIADMK
party
1. Party
Leadership and Chief Ministership should not be with two different persons. Hence
Chinnamma ( English meaning is mistress or mother’s younger sister) the title
of V.N.Sasikala should be made the Chief Minister
Well, if that’s the case why not O.Panneerselvam the choice of Jayalalitha
be made as the party head
2. Chinnamma
was with Jayalalitha for thirty years. Hence she must be made the Chief
Minister
If
that applies the maids of Rashtrapathibhavan and the menial staff of Prime
Minister Office qualify to become the President and the Prime Minister
But dismissing
these flimsy justification, V.N.Sasikala was until now was a proxy head that existed parallel to Jayalalitha who cannot be accounted for the actions as she
held no responsibility. Now she comes to the front to bear the responsibility.
But the biggest challenge with the money laden V.N.Sasikala are winning the
confidence of the party cadres of AIADMK, as they do not recognize her as a
leader. Their enormous contempt against Sasikala went to the peak the way she
handled the medical treatment of Jayalalitha in those 74 days in
Apollohospitals, Chennai in shrouded mystery. She needs to publicly give details of
the medical treatment that she alone knows after the Chairman of Apollo
Hospitals Prathap Reddy.
Secondly,
V.N.Sasikala needs to demonstrate that she is not a mafia queen by tendering
unconditional apology to all those victims of her and her family’s land
grabbing and for other misgivings publicly which alone will spare her from the wrath
of general public.
Third, she needs
to sail smoothly with BJP government until 2019, which cannot be an easy task
as the if not the RSS, the BJP of Tamil nadu will demand their larger pound of booty she
has and will be generating.
Fourth, she
needs to pamper the MLA’s who in any time can change to DMK opposition party
for a dignified living, if she is going to ill-treat her top level party functionaries
as Jayalalitha did, lest DMK is well equipped to handle situations like this
and come to power with just 40 MLA’s of AIADMK who can be easily laid a honey
trap.
Or, if her
family members have thought this is a one-time bonanza to have a Harvest and
then acquire overseas citizenship and fled the country with the money earned,
then it must not be surprising as they have been doing it.
The game has started
today…and the political stage of Tamil Nadu will be very much entertaining. Regardless of the theoretical explanation, the furious nature of the people especially the youth of Tamil Nadu is always there as a perennial threat for any politician especially the one like V.N.Sasikala.
