With the exit of O Panneerselvam as Chief Minister, the state of Tamil Nadu is in for a major churning. He paves the way for installation of AIADMK’s recently-named general secretary VK Sasikala in the CM’s post.
Clearly, the decision taken by the party legislators at the Poes Gardens meet on Sunday was unanimous even as there could be undercurrents of resentment among small sections of the party’s rank and file. Sasikala had never been a legislator.
Nor was she an office-bearer of the party with which she was associated in the capacity of an aide to party leader Jayalalithaa. In the recent years when Jayalalithaa was ailing, it was Sasikala who held the reins from behind her boss.
That also saw her having a say in the selection of candidates for the last assembly polls in 2016 May. It is precisely this kind of an involvement that has helped Sasikala come upfront after the demise of Jayalalithaa in December. Sasikala inherited Jayalalithaa’s legacy by a strong bond in the name of the well-publicised companionship between the two.
O Panneerselvam has repeatedly been a stop-gap arrangement, he having been put in the CM’s chair as and when Jayalalithaa faced court strictures and was made to step down from power. Jayalalithaa had faith in him as a senior minister in government and no one was considered more loyal to her than Panneerselvam and Sasikala.
Looking back, however, Panneerselvam forfeited his right to succession as he often cut a sorry figure from the lack of assertiveness he displayed all along as a leader. Being a puppet is one thing, and being a leader commanding respect is quite another.
Panneerselvam failed to measure up to the people’s expectations of a leader.
Sasikala has outshone Panneerselvam in the dignified way she conducted herself. Her calm composure and restrained behaviour are to her advantage in the immediate term.
On the other hand, allegations about her near and dear ones, including her husband, have been doing the rounds; although no one has raised a finger against Sasikala directly. This is not to ignore the money laundering cases that she’s supposedly involved in. Trouble is in store for her as the Madras High Court last week set aside the “discharge” order of a trial court in her favour.
The hefty funds that were sent out abroad were at least partly linked to the import of machinery for the Jaya TV. The case will now hang like a Damocles’ sword over Sasikala’s chief-ministership. Being CM, however, she might be in a better position to ward off problems.
After Jayalalithaa’s demise, despite the facade of unity, the AIADMK is no more an unassailable edifice. Neither Sasikala nor Panneerselvam, nor Lok Sabha deputy speaker Thambidurai who is solidly backing Sasikala, has the stature to call the shots.
Communal equations are bound to play out in the coming months, and Sasikala will have to tread a cautious path through the conflicting interests of castes and clans that are one too many in Tamil Nadu politics.
The “other Sasikala”, caught in scandals, might not be any threat to the CM nominee, but chances are also that the more well-entrenched Karunanidhi clan in the state politics might now do their best to undercut Sasikala and the AIADMK leadership. Whether the CM-nominee can stand up and face the challenge from the DMK is a moot point.
Opposition leader MK Stalin is bound to exploit the schisms in the ruling party sooner than later. It would require a lot of grit and determination on the part of Sasikala to navigate the ship through turbulent times and unchartered waters. Achieving unity in the party at such a juncture is not an easy task.
