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"Sirandha nirvagi yaar? Gujaratai serndha andha Modi ya? Alla Tamil Nattai serndha indha lady ya? Anaithu thirangalilum miga sirandha nirvagathai allithukondiruppadhu Gujaratai serndha Modi alla, Tamil Nattai serndha indha lady dhaan enbadhai therindhukollungal!”
(“Who is a better administrator? Is it Gujarat’s Modi or this Tamil Nadu lady? Tamil Nadu’s lady is better than Gujarat’s Modi in providing better administration in all spheres of governance.”)
It was not long ago that this war cry echoed through Tamil Nadu’s streets as the then chief minister J Jayalalithaa campaigned ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, pitting her administration directly against the then prime ministerial candidate of the BJP, Narendra Modi.
The people of Tamil Nadu endorsed Jayalalithaa’s words not only in 2014, when the AIADMK swept the polls bagging 37 of the 39 seats in the state, but reposed their faith in her administration in 2016 at the Assembly election.
Follow live updates from Jayalalithaa’s death anniversary here.
Now, a year after her demise, Jayalalithaa’s words appear to have been forgotten by ministers in her cabinet, and those that proclaimed to be her loyalists. Her resounding battle cry has now been replaced by a feeble whisper of subservience, say many.
The AIADMK government under the leadership of Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam have been inching closer towards the BJP-led Centre. The creeping influence of the Centre on Tamil Nadu’s affairs is perhaps most evident in the policies that Jayalalithaa had vehemently opposed.
He points to the last memorandum presented by Jayalalithaa to PM Modi in June 2016, which emphasised the state’s opposition to NEET, GST, and the UDAY Scheme among a host of other issues.
While Jayalalithaa had highlighted Tamil Nadu’s difficulty in implementing the UDAY scheme without “essential modifications” by the Power Ministry, just a month after her death, on 9 January, the government under O Panneerselvam had a change of heart and joined the Centre’s package for reviving state-run electricity distribution utilities. The script has been no different for schemes like the GST and the NEET, with the state’s resistance under Jayalalithaa making way for compliance under OPS and EPS.
Radhakrishnan says:
Ramu Manivannan, Professor of Political Science at Madras University, says the BJP’s influence on the ruling AIADMK has been largely covert.
However, an AIADMK leader told TNM that there has been no direct or additional pressure from the BJP. He added that top leaders of the BJP had reached out to the AIADMK for support in the Parliament on various issues, but unlike in the past, the regional party was finding it hard to say no.
S Ramesh, Chief Reporter with the Thuglak magazine explains that the BJP has changed its strategy in the state according to the political scenario.
Like many other aspiring political leaders and parties, the BJP senses that it has a better chance now in Tamil Nadu after Jayalalithaa’s demise, he says. But Ramesh notes:
Like Ramesh, Professor Ramu Manivannan observes that the BJP is projecting itself as an alternative to the DMK and the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.
A source close to the BJP leadership in Tamil Nadu points out that much of the saffron party’s indirect manoeuvrings in the state have been targeted at its arch-rival – the Congress.
How the BJP goes forward in Tamil Nadu depends largely on how it plays its cards.
A direct consequence of the BJP’s interest in Tamil Nadu is the political realignment that has taken place since Jayalalithaa’s demise. The bypoll for the late CM’s constituency – RK Nagar – has witnessed parties such as the Congress, the CPI, the VCK and the MDMK lend support to the DMK. The resolution adopted by the MDMK, founded by Vaiko after he had walked out of the DMK in 1993, reflects the fear over the BJP’s growing influence in the state.
“It is the need of the hour to teach a lesson to the AIADMK government which has lost the confidence of the people. The MDMK has the historical duty to safeguard Dravidian movement. So, the party decided to support the DMK candidate and work for his victory,” stated the resolution on Sunday.
Ramu Manivannan points out that the political realignment is a sign of the times. He says:
(This article has been published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)
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