Who Will Succeed Jayalalithaa? AIADMK Faces An Existential Problem

A brief peek into Tamil Nadu’s political history makes it clear that today’s situation is no happenstance.

Irrespective of whether Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa is alive or dead, the crucial issue of succession is staring at her party. (Photo: The Quint)

After Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s death, the crucial issue of succession is staring at her party – the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). And the first realisation that must have dawned on her factotums is that the all-powerful revolutionary leader or the ‘Puratchi Thalaivi’ as she is popularly referred to, is a mere mortal and prone to suffering life’s infirmities.

Second, in the popular imagination, there is no one who can lay claim to her position in the party. Party colleague O Panneerselvam, who was briefly Chief Minister, fashioned himself more like Bharata in Ramayana; ruling not by his own right but on behalf of his leader, and a temporary one at that.

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The AIADMK is not alone its predicament. It is just part of the larger story of a feudalistic mindset that exists within Indian politics. (Photo: The Quint/LijuJoseph)

The AIADMK is not alone its predicament. It is just part of the larger story of a feudal mindset that exists within Indian politics. No party is free from this malaise. In the case of the AIADMK, Jayalalithaa stood alone in her public life, bereft of any family ties. Notwithstanding speculation and rumours of a marriage and the existence of a daughter in the United States, her filial life is cloudy.

The party is looking down a black hole precisely due to this reason as there is no heir to her position, unlike say, MK Stalin, the son of ex-Chief Minister M Karunanidhi – Jayalalithaa’s sworn enemy in politics. This only exposes the utter absence of democracy within Indian political parties.

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Where a son, daughter or spouse is readily available, a leader has no headaches figuring out a successor. Moreover, party activists and the people in general are willing to accept the progeny or the spouse of a leader. This is a throwback to the monarchy of yore.

Despite the fact that India became a republic in 1950 and people were given the power to choose their leader, the free will that should have been entrenched by now is tragically absent – especially within political parties.

In Tamil Nadu, the cult of personality is ruthless. The unique intertwining of politics and cinema meant that “heroes” in Tamil filmdom graduated to politics seamlessly. Jayalalithaa herself had an interesting and a near-violent arangetram with power. During the time of her predecessor, the legendary actor and chief minister M G Ramachandran, or MGR, who founded the AIADMK, she made a name for herself as propaganda secretary of the party.

MGR was married to Janaki. But he was also close to Jayalalithaa and their romantic pairing in Tamil cinema saw several box office hits. When MGR died in 1987, there was no succession plan. This resulted in an open, bitter power struggle between Janaki and Jayalalithaa. In fact, in full public view, Jayalalitha was almost pushed out of the vehicle carrying MGR’s body during his funeral procession.

Though a logical successor by virtue of being MGR’s wife, Janaki could not hold on to the position she had inherited and was dethroned by the politically shrewd Jayalalithaa, who had the control of the party and its activists.

Earlier, in 1969 when the charismatic founder of the DMK and then chief minister CN Annadurai died, a bitter power struggle saw his close associates MGR and M Karunanidhi fall out, resulting in the formation of MGR’s rebel AIADMK.

This brief peek into Tamil Nadu’s political history makes it clear that today’s situation is no happenstance. It was always leading to this point. The question is: why didn’t Jayalalithaa work out a succession plan?

The most probable explanation is that in the cynical world of Indian politics, it is difficult to trust anyone to be a worthy successor. In the case of Jayalalithaa, her close personal associate Sasikala Natarajan was long thought to be the real power behind the chief minister. But, for a while, Jayalalithaa kept Sasikala away from herself.

After the hiatus, Sasikala returned to Jayalalithaa’s inner circle, but without her family members who, by various accounts, had earlier used the relationship unscrupulously to their advantage. Jayalalithaa, despite her closeness to Sasikala, never anointed her successor.

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Without a popularly acceptable successor, the AIADMK appears doomed. Without Jayalalithaa at the helm, it is only a matter of time before the party gets run over by its more organised opponent, the DMK.

In the interim, the power vacuum that may be created in the near future could be an attractive proposition for the BJP trying to make a mark in Tamil Nadu and the Congress which will see visions of making a comeback after nearly 50 years of political wilderness in the state.

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(KS Dakshina Murthy is an independent journalist based in Bangalore)