Strong Leader

Chief Minister Jayalalitha projects the image of a Strong Leader as her AIADMK government gets down to work on many fronts in Tamil Nadu.

A MONTH after returning to power in Tamil Nadu on May 14, it is clear that the image Chief Minister Jayalalitha wishes to project is that of a Strong Leader who is deterred by nothing as she sets out to deliver on her interpretation of her mandate. Her All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) government has certainly not begun in low key. It has swiftly arrested several political foes, although thus far it has not laid hands on its real targets - former Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president M. Karunanidhi, and Chennai Corporation Mayor and rising son M.K. Stalin. And, not surprisingly, Karunanidhi and Stalin seemed to be nothing if not defiant.

Meanwhile, flushed with victory in the May 10 Assembly elections, Jayalalitha has demonstrated that within the AIADMK she reigns supreme, asserting the tradition of the Strong Leader. She sacked three Ministers less than a month after they were appointed, and reshuffled portfolios, explaining subsequently that this was for "administrative reasons". Those shown the door on June 9 were Industries Minister V. Jayaraman, Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments K. Ayyaru Vaandayar, who belongs to a powerful land-owning family in Thanjavur district, and Food Minister R. Viswanathan. Two days later, Governor M. Fathima Beevi swore in the replacements: R.Vaithilingam at Industries, R.Jeevanandam at Agriculture, and C. Shanmugavelu at Milk and Dairy Development.

A major overhaul of the government machinery involving the transfer of about 75 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and about 80 Indian Police Service (IPS) officers left the bureaucracy in a mental state that is anything but complacent. The transfers covered officers at every level and across the State. Although transfers are routinely resorted to when a change of government takes place, some officers complain that Jayalalitha seemed to favour promotee IAS officers, who have in this round bagged many a plum posting.

The first to go were Chennai Police Commissioner P.Kalimuthu and Additional Director-General of Police (Special Operations) A.X. Alexander. There was no doubt that Kalimuthu was close to the Karunanidhi family and perceived as partisan. K. Muthukaru-ppan was appointed in Kalimuthu's place. Alexander had quietly played an important troubleshooting role after forest brigand Veerappan abducted Kannada film star Rajkumar last year. Kalimuthu was posted as ADGP, Social Justice, Criminal Investigation Department, Chennai. Alexander was first named Project Director, Tamil Nadu Police Academy, a newly created post. However, a few days later he was posted as Special Officer (Operations) at the Sri Lankan Tamil refugee camp at Mandapam in Rama-nathapuram. Six officers who were in Chief Minister Karunanidhi's secretariat were first put on "compulsory wait". Later, four of them - T.R. Ramaswamy, K.Ashok Vardhan Shetty, K.Rajamanickam and V.Irai Anbu, all IAS officers - were posted as Commissioners for Disciplinary Proceedings, in places distant from Chennai. N. Narayanan, who was well regarded as Chairman and Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Newsprint Limited, was posted as Special Commissioner for Disciplinary Proceedings, Tiruchi. Another senior and well-regarded officer, R. Poornalingam, who was Chairman, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, was put on compulsory wait. Home Secretary Shantha Sheela Nair, a quiet, non-controversial professional, was transferred.

There was surprise in Coimbatore over the transfer of City Police Commissioner K. Radhakrishnan, who had brought under control Muslim and Hindu fundamentalists. Madurai saw the transfer of the City Police Commissioner, the District Collector and the Corporation Commissioner - S.R. Jangid, V.Thangavelu and Gagandeep Singh Beedi respectively. The three officers had worked in tandem to bring some discipline and order to Madurai on several fronts.

On the policy side, the Chief Minister has taken some controversial decisions. Farmers at several places opposed her government's decision to close down "non-functional" uzhavar sandhais (farmers' markets) where farmers sell their produce directly, eliminating middlemen. This scheme, authored by the DMK government in October 1999, has won some grassroots support. In protest against her decision, farmers squatted on roads at Sooramangalam, near Salem, and Dharmapuri. Farmers' associations, political parties and the Tamil Nadu Kisan Sabha affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) condemned the decision.

The decision to sack about 13,000 rural welfare workers, appointed during the DMK government, met with some resistance. Karunanidhi condemned the decision and said people were aware how these rural welfare workers did constructive work in villages. Vaiko, general secretary, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), said the dismissal had left their families worried. It was "wrong to assume that all of them belonged to a particular party," Vaiko said. He also opposed a reported proposal to sack road gang mazdoors appointed by the DMK government. CPI(M) State secretary N. Sankaraiah set his face against the proposal to sack thousands of these road workers. He wanted the State government to offer security of service to them.

ON the governance front, the Jayalalitha administration has been in a pro-active mode. The Chief Minister issued a statement on June 12 affirming her commitment to provide "good governance befitting the trust that people have reposed" in her. She came up with a list of ground rules on the basis of which priority should be given to teachers of government schools and colleges who sought transfers. Jayalalitha said: "I have provided strict instructions to my Cabinet colleagues and officials that there should be transparency in the administration, that it should suffer from no defects, and if defects were pointed out, they should be immediately rectified..."

The next day she announced that her government would waive interest and penal interest amounting to Rs.310.51 crores on cooperative society loans taken by farmers. The government would pay this amount to the cooperative societies. About seven lakh farmers would benefit from this, she said.

The Chief Minister displayed her determination to solve important problems facing the State when she met Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and Home Minister L.K. Advani in New Delhi on June 5 and 6. She presented a memorandum to Vajpayee in which she pleaded for an all-India ban on extremist outfits active in Tamil Nadu, such as the Al-Umma, the Jihad Committee, the Tamil Nadu Liberation Army and the Tamil National Retrieval Force. She sought the Centre's intervention to restore the rights of fishermen from Tamil Nadu to fish in and around Katchativu island which the Centre had ceded to Sri Lanka, to end the Sri Lankan Navy's killing of Tamil Nadu fishermen, implementation of the interim award of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal, execution of the Sethusamudram canal project, help to capture the bandit and serial killer Veerappan, and so on. During her meeting with Advani she highlighted the demand for funds to modernise further the police force in Tamil Nadu.

What, if any, is the political fallout of Jayalalitha's recent visit to New Delhi? While there was plenty of speculation in the media and political circles about her political agenda vis-a-vis the top BJP leaders, Prime Minister Vajpayee and Home Minister Advani, there was no indication of any alteration of political course. Anonymous BJP sources tried to promote the story that Vajpayee and Advani were "cool" to Jayalalitha's "overtures". One such source claimed: "She was hoping to get closer. But the BJP will not take the first step. We do not trust her." (Jayalalitha was instrumental in toppling the BJP-led government at the Centre in 1999.)

The fact is that the AIADMK leader has made an interesting move by pledging support to the People's Front, promoted by the CPI(M) and the CPI as a third alternative to the Congress(I) and the NDA led by the BJP. Jayalalitha pointedly said that the AIADMK's alliance with the Congress(I) had ended once the elections were over. She ruled out her party rejoining the NDA. After a meeting with CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan, she said: "The People's Front is making slow and steady progress, and there is time."

When she met Prime Minister Vajpayee she did not raise the issue of the Sarkaria Commission's indictment of Karunanidhi in connection with the Veeranam water supply project launched when he was Chief Minister in the early 1970s. She had asserted earlier in the Tamil Nadu Assembly that she would press the Centre to revive the cases against Karunanidhi relating to the project.

MEANWHILE, a number of minor league political opponents of the AIADMK were arrested. First it was the turn of Parithi Ilamvazhuthi, re-elected on the DMK ticket from Egmore constituency in Chennai. He was Deputy Speaker of the Assembly when the DMK was in power from 1996 to 2001. The police arrested him on May 17 on a complaint from the AIADMK front's candidate who contested against Ilamvazhuthi that Ilamvazhuthi and nine others assaulted him on polling day. DMK circles allege that the attempt is to punish the "victim" because, according to them, Ilamvazhuthi's election office was smashed up and the former Deputy Speaker was injured in the attack and had to take refuge in the house of the late DMK leader Nanjil K. Manoharan.

Next to be arrested, on May 27, was N. Devaraj, brother of former DMK Health and Electricity Minister Arcot N. Veerasamy. The arrest followed a complaint from a Bangalore-based businessman to the police that Devaraj had demanded Rs.400 as commission for each tonne of scrap the businessman wanted to lift from the Madras Export Processing Zone. The complainant said that when he refused to pay the commission, Devaraj and eight others came to his office and threatened him with weapons.

A former DMK Member of Parliament, K. Parasuraman, was arrested the next day for allegedly kidnapping a civil engineering contractor, T.G. Deivasigamani. The police said that 10 persons came to Deivasigamani's home and took him away because, according to Deivasigamani, he refused to pay commission to Parasuraman after he won the contract for a road laying project near Chennai. Additional Deputy Commissioner, Chennai Crime Branch, S. Murugavel, said that Deivasigamani had also named Stalin and former DMK Minister for Highways T. Kirutinnan as alleged beneficiaries of the contract awarded to him. That set off speculation that Stalin would soon be arrested. But Stalin declared that he was ready for a legal combat.

Tamil Maanila Congress Democratic Front (TMCDF) legislator B. Ranganathan's turn had come on May 26 when the police arrested him after a person complained that Ranganathan had threatened him with a revolver for not having given him funds for the election campaign. Former AIADMK MLA and street fighter R. Tamaraikani was arrested on June 2 because, according to the police, there were several complaints against him of criminal intimidation. The arrest came a day before Tamaraikani was to join the DMK.

Those arrested were remanded to judicial custody. Ilamvazhuthi and Devaraj were later granted bail by the Madras High Court.

Another category of action was taken on June 13. In a pre-dawn operation, the Chennai city police took into custody the notorious V.N. Sudhagaran, Jayalalitha's disowned "foster son" and the nephew of N. Sasikala, the Chief Minister's associate. The allegations against Sudhagaran include attempt to murder and possession of heroin. The arrested man's 62-year-old father, Vivekanandan, was subsequently arrested.

Jayalalitha's triumphant return to high office has certainly ushered in an action-packed period for the politics of the key southern State, which will be expected to play a major role in the development of the nation's volatile politics.