Being Jayalalithaa

Of the three high-profile Indian women politicians who by turns exasperate and evoke admiration among their fellow colleagues as well as analysts, J Jayalalithaa, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief, makes for a compelling case study. Not just the highs and lows of her political life but Jayalalithaa’s personal/political journey as ‘the other woman’, her defiance of her male colleagues (as well as at a crucial stage in her political life, of her political patron MG Ramachandran), make her the enigmatic personality that she is: unpredictable, taciturn, ruthless — a political strategist to the hilt.

No discussion on Jayalalithaa is complete without framing her within the lens of gender relations. From the outset of her political life, she squarely challenged the political establishment hegemonised by misogynists, where women leaders are far and few between. Where Mamata Banerjee is often dismissed for lacking the astute political insight to play the intricate games of durbari politics at the Centre, the other two women political actors — Mayawati as well as Jayalalithaa  — are known to play their hands well.

At the heart of Jayalalithaa’s idiosyncrasies seems to be her innate distrust of men; a defining marker of her persona and her political negotiations with men within and outside her own party. According to one of her former party colleagues, she perceived all men in her life — her father, MG Ramachandran, Shobhan Babu, her one-time partner — as people who failed her. In her autobiography published in the Tamil weekly Kumudam in 1978, Jayalalithaa describes her father as a “squanderer and a gentleman of leisure”, a man “who could not handle anything properly”.

Jayalalithaa’s future in active politics does look fuzzy at this moment. Paradoxically, not so long ago — in the run up to the 2014 general elections – conversations in political circles were veering around Jayalalithaa as a potential prime ministerial candidate. Like most heavyweight leaders, Jayalalithaa too nurtured national ambitions. She bided her time to make a move for the top post. Ahead of the general elections, opening up a dialogue with the Communist Party of India leader AB Bardhan, suggesting her inclusion in the proposed third front alliance. Later, toying with the idea of backing Narendra Modi and the NDA. Playing the pre-election game, Jayalalithaa juggled her options — hoping that a fractured mandate would put her as among the lead contenders for the Prime Minister’s post.

For months during this period, hoardings throughout Tamil Nadu, projected Jayalalithaa as prime-minister-in-waiting. “She behaves like one already, making audacious decisions even as she remains fully aware that they will not go unchallenged. The woman on the posters, smiling serenely as morphed images of world leaders crowd the edges, apparently paying obeisance to her, has been Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu thrice in the past twenty years” wrote Vaasanthi in her profile on Jayalalithaa in The Caravan magazine earlier this year.

The rout of the AIADMK’s greatest adversary, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in the 2011assembly elections, would have surely bolstered Jayalalithaa’s prime ministerial ambitions. Like the DMK now declaring the end of her political career, Jayalalithaa then sounded similar doom for her arch rival. But political obituaries should never be penned in a hurry despite reversals of fortune, dramatic though they may be.

The law has finally caught up with the AIADMK chief. For years, corrupt politicians of her stature felt secure in the comfort of the unchallenged culture of impunity, rendering their corruption outside of the ambit of justice. It was as if the law was invented exclusively for ordinary citizens — the resourceless poor — to abide by it. As if the law was always meant to turn a blind eye to its subversions by the high and mighty. Fortunately, the wheels of justice have recently started moving in the other direction as well. The powerful today may be under compulsion to contain their greed — feel nervous about indulging it.

This Saturday, the cycle of power politics, seemed to come a full circle. Convicted on serious corruption charges and with a long four-year jail term staring her in the face, the political life of the AIADMK leader, could well be over. Whether or not Jayalalithaa manages to win her appeal in the court still remains to be seen. Given the gravity of the charges in the disproportionate assets case, a reversal of decisions seems unlikely.

The challenge before the AIADMK would be to sustain the mammoth personality cult — cultural as well as political — that has been carefully constructed around Amma. Most political leaders in India are prone to propagating and nurturing their individual cults rather than the parties they head. But in the case of Tamil Nadu and specifically in that of Jayalalithaa — her existence whether in gigantic hoardings, posters, or through welfare programmes — is all pervasive in the state. Right now a host of hugely popular welfare programmes named after Jayalalithaa are running across Tamil Nadu. A news report in the Indian Express on Sunday says, “As Amma smiles down from her pictures on the walls, steaming plates of sambar rice are lapped up for Rs5 each and curd rice with pickle for just Rs 3.”

As political analysts point out, the Amma phenomenon — despite her physical absence from the political scene — could actually reach new heights. On Sunday afternoon, the party selected O Panneerselvam to succeed Jayalalithaa as Chief Minister. A former Chief Minister, Panneerselvam, a trusted loyalist, was elevated to the position of Chief Minister for six months in 2001 when Jayalalithaa had to step down following her conviction in the Tansi land deal case. She was subsequently acquitted.
Even as Jayalalithaa exits active political life — for the time being at least — she continues to remain an enigmatic, wilful figure within and outside her party, the AIADMK.

The author is Editor, dna of thought