Two Jayalalithaas: Autocratic leader, queen of the masses

A few days ago, inside the High dependency ward where Jayalalithaa was shifted from the Critical Care Unit, Apollo Hospitals group’s Vice Chairperson Preetha Reddy showed her photographs of the engagement ceremony of her son that had taken place in September. Jayalalithaa told Preetha Reddy that her would-be daughter-in-law is very beautiful and promised to attend the wedding, which is fixed for February 9.

It is a promise Jayalalithaa did not keep. There will be no more journeys to be made.

But as Jayalalithaa bid a sudden goodbye to the world, the world is standing by and applauding her journey. First, as a success story in the south Indian film industry, and then as a career politician. About her brand of populist politics and revenge dramas vis-a-vis bete noire Karunanidhi.

But is that simplifying Jayalalithaa, putting her in easily identifiable jars? Yes. Because the kind of outpouring of grief that one saw in Chennai on Tuesday was something different. The tears and the wailing spoke the language of a connect. It was largely restrained, mourning the demise of a loved one.

To my mind, there were two and not one Jayalalithaas. One was autocratic, inaccessible, dictatorial, who axed ministers without giving any reason whatsoever, who did not believe in inner-party freedom, who thought nothing of slapping defamation cases on the media at the drop of a hat. Who would be fine with the worst sort of sycophancy with cutouts all over the place, and who had cases of disproportionate assets levelled against her.

But it is incorrect that this was all just balm for an overbloated ego. That is an incorrect prognosis. Yes, it made Jayalalithaa look anything but a liberal democrat but each of the above was done with an eye to ensure she had her way. She had trust issues, which necessitated her to think two steps ahead of anyone within or outside the party. It was important for her to play these mind games, to intimidate and pummel the rivals into submission.

The other Jayalalithaa was none of this. She was someone who understood the pulse of the people, especially the lack of a level-playing field for have nots. Which is why the bouquet of welfare programmes were carefully designed by her to ensure life got at least a touch better for them.

By trial and error method, Jayalalithaa had come to acquire an understanding of politics that paid rich dividends in the 2014 and 2016 elections. In the Lok Sabha elections two years ago, it was a masterstroke to pitch herself as a PM candidate. That captured the imagination of the Tamil electorate and the AIADMK reaped a rich harvest of 37 out of 39 seats. Likewise, her decision to go alone in May displayed a sense of confidence in her own strength, unlike the DMK, that was trying to cobble together a rainbow coalition. In the end, both chemistry and arithmetic worked for Jayalalithaa as the index of opposition unity was poor.

She cultivated a benevolent queen narrative with the people of the state, her ministers, bureaucrats and partymen; Jayalalithaa was queen and the rest were subjects.

The Tamil Nadu this Amma orphaned is home to some of the best social indices be in terms of infant mortality or maternal mortality.

Under Jayalalithaa, social welfare, education and health were priority areas, which got the maximum focus and attention. Amma was also Robinhood.

At the Rajaji Hall in Chennai, where Jayalalithaa’s body was kept for the public to pay their last respects, there was a large posse of women police, deployed on bandobast. One of them, RS Gomathi, a constable told me Amma would live on as a role model, not just to her but to every young girl in Tamil Nadu who wants to be empowered in life.

I read that as an acknowledgement of the fact that Tamil Nadu has not broken its umbilical chord with its Amma.

The author is a senior journalist.