Docile leader turns tables in Indian state

O Panneerselvam has joined the social churn in Tamil Nadu as tussle for power continues

He sat like the Buddha, cross-legged for nearly an hour, late in the night on February 7, at the memorial of his dear Amma, the one and only 'thalaivi', the supreme leader, on Chennai's Marina Beach, knowing full well the frantic calculations that were going on all around him for the seat he had occupied and relinquished more than twice. The first two resignations were willingly made to hand back charge of the burden he had borne during his revered leader's absence. After her demise, he was called upon again to don her mantle, now for real, and he had accepted it with humility and dignity. As the new leader of Tamil Nadu, he had performed his duties with diligence. He'd made trips to Delhi to get permission for an ordinance to bypass the judicial ban on Jallikattu, a traditional bull sport, winning the affection and admiration of the Tamil people and of rival parties as well. He'd gone to Hyderabad for a congenial meeting on the sharing of waters, and promised to visit Alanganallur near Madurai for the occasion of the sport's revival there.
O Panneerselvam was surveying the ravages of an oil spill along the coast at Ennore when he was called to Poes Garden, the residence of J Jayalalithaa (1948-2016), which the late leader's long-time associate and friend VK Sasikala had made hers, and was told that Chinnamma-as the latter was now called-was going to be elected Chief Minister in his place by legislators of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). But why now, at a time when the government was dealing with so many issues? The signatures of MLAs had already been collected, he was told, and he had to abdicate again.
It was a slap in the face. He was never a rebel, and yet the humiliation was hard to bear. Traumatised by deceit and with no friend to unload his woes, he had decided to go to Amma. She would surely lend him an ear. He was in deep meditation at her burial spot, unaware of the roar of the sea. He had done no wrong and Amma knew it. When he opened his eyes after an hour, he was a changed man. Teary, he prostrated himself full length on the ground, just as he would when she was alive.
Did he receive a message from her? Did she tell him, "You were my trusted deputy, do not let the party go to the wolves?" "Raise your voice?"
He did. He emerged from the memorial like a mythical soldier raised from the dead. "I wish to reveal," he told the waiting press, "that my resignation from the Chief Minister's post on Sunday in favour of Sasikala was forced." He said he was not informed in advance of the AIADMK legislators' decision to elect her as their leader in the Assembly, nor was he kept in the loop about the plan to assume the responsibility that had been his. "I am revealing the truth now motivated by the command I received from Amma's soul. I shall [therefore] fight till the end, standing alone."
That was a signal to the Tamil masses, always sentimental about the wishes of the dead, about commitment and loyalty. It reminded one of what his mentor Jayalalithaa had told party cadres after her mentor MG Ramachandran (1917-1987) passed away. She told them that when she had been planning to quit politics, it was MGR who, placing her palm on the picture of his mother Sathya, had made her vow never to do this.
Now, it seemed, her chosen deputy had made a similar promise to her at her grave. That Panneerselvam could not be faulted on that account, the people knew. The man was surely not power hungry. They know how he, like Bharata awaiting Rama's return, had waited for Amma to come back, refusing to occupy the Chief Minister's chair she had used.
Even the party's detractors were outraged when it came to light that Sasikala, who was general secretary of the AIADMK, wanted to replace him as Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister. After all, he was experienced in governance, twice chosen by Jayalalithaa herself to take charge of the state when she faced legal problems and had to step down from office. After her death, he was duly asked to take oath as the next Chief Minister.
Sasikala and her entourage call Panneerselvam an ingrate, recalling his past. A graduate and the son of a poor farmer from the Thevar community, he was a humble man, known for his modesty. He was in the good books of Sasikala's nephew Dinakaran, MP, who had been impressed by his sincere work when he contested an election in the Periyakulam constituency. It was on his recommendation, it is said, that Jayalalithaa selected Panneerselvam. When the Supreme Court on September 21, 2001, gave its verdict that 'the appointment of Jayalalithaa as chief minister of Tamil Nadu on May 14 was unconstitutional and void' (she had been indicted and sentenced to imprisonment for more than two years in the TANSI case), to the total shock of everyone, she appointed a first-time member of the Assembly, Panneerselvam. Her trust in him was such that she called upon him again to take charge when she was convicted in 2014 by a Karnataka special court and had to step down. Sasikala, however, was well versed with the machinations of caste politics, having been a close associate of Jayalalithaa and having played a large role in selecting party candidates in recent times.
The 134 AIADMK members of the Assembly who believe they can create a facsimile version of a leader who was larger than life, do not realise the massive social churn that is happening in the state. The recent congregation of people at Marina Beach was not only spontaneous, it was also unprecedented. Young and old, they gathered, spitting fury in the name of a ban on a sport many of them had not seen. Their vehemence had its own story to tell. The death of the icon seemed to have unleashed all the pent-up frustrations that had been contained for long under authoritarian rule. The projection of a supreme leader will give rise to authoritarian leadership, they know. But the very protest, remember, was a cry for maanam -to preserve the Tamil's right to decide. Panneerselvam seems to have joined the churn.
Vaasanthi is an author.
-The Open (openthemagazine.com)

• India