Options before V.N Sasikala, Leader of AIADMK

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.