“Muraiseydhu kaapaatrum mannavan makkatkku
Iraiyendru vaikka padum”
Thus says Kural (couplet) 388 of the Tirukkural, one of the greatest works ever written on ethics and morality by Thiruvalluvar. This means that a king who performs his duty towards his citizens would be placed on the same pedestal as god himself.
We are in the twenty first century where all these ideals are only in textbooks and the kings are only interested in grabbing power, making some quick bucks and trying to establish their relatives and kins in politics. The people who have voted for these kings are taken for granted more often than not.
The last state election was held in Tamil Nadu in May 2016, where J Jayalaithaa led AIADMK won a comfortable majority owing to some of the socialist schemes undertaken by her during her previous tenure. All was going well in Tamil Nadu till Jayalalithaa’s health deserted her and she finally expired on 5th December 2016.
O Panneerselvam (OPS), who was the eternal caretaker chief minister whenever Jaya was unable to directly rule the state owing to her numerous corruption cases, finally got a chance to become CM without being under the watchful eyes of Jaya. But then there was Sasikala, the aide of Jaya, who also saw in Jaya’s death a chance to establish herself as Jaya’s political heir and rule the state.
OPS was doing a fair job in leading the state and demonstrated his administrative skills during Cyclone Vardah and during the Jallikattu uprising. Sasikala started to grow insecure and decided to take control of the party and the state.
Out of the blue, it was decided within the party that Sasikala would be the next CM and she would carry forward Jaya’s legacy. The soft spoken OPS decided that enough was enough and openly revolted against Sasikala saying he was forced to offer his resignation. This has led to two factions in the AIADMK, the larger one backing Sasikala and the smaller one backing OPS. OPS was slowly but surely becoming more popular and some of the MLAs started openly supporting him. This led to Sasikala escorting her remaining supporter MLAs to a resort to ensure they don’t move to the other camp before the trust vote.
Then came the hearing on the Disproportionate Assets case, where Sasikala is one of the co-accused (along with the late Jaya). For once, the Supreme Court decided not to give the famous ‘clean chit’ and Sasikala was asked to surrender to the Parappana Agrahara jail in Bangalore. E Palaniswamy was chosen to be the caretaker CM in Sasikala’s absence.
This led to a battle of caretaker CMs in the Tamil Nadu assembly on Saturday when Palanisamy had to prove his majority in the floor of the house to remain the CM. Arch rivals DMK and its opportunistic breed of politicians decided to back OPS as a hung assembly would result in a President’s rule and fresh elections thereafter, giving them a chance of coming to power.
The Tamil Nadu assembly witnessed high drama on Saturday with unruly scenes of chaos and violence. During the course of this drama, Chief Minister E Palaniswamy won a test of strength in the assembly with 122 votes in his favor as against 11 MLAs who voted against him and backed OPS. In an utterly shameful and disgusting display, DMK legislators broke chairs and a table and heckled the speaker P Dhanapal, who eventually ordered their eviction. The opposition MLAs were protesting against the Speaker for not allowing secret voting in the trust vote. The Speaker alleged that he had been ‘tortured’ by opposition legislators, who tore his shirt (like in Salman Khan movies). When marshalls tried to escort the Speaker out, DMK members pulled him back to his chair and one DMK member even sat on his chair in protest. DMK chief MK Stalin emerged from the assembly with his shirt torn and said marshalls had caused injuries while evicting him.
Without any exception, every single member in the Tamil Nadu assembly is guilty of not adhering towards the principles of Dharma and not rightfully performing his or her duties towards the hapless voters. Let us come to the Speaker Dhanapal. When MLAs belonging to the Sasikala faction had allegedly been held as hostages in the Koovathur resort, what was the need to convene the house in less than 48 hours after they were ‘released’? Instead of this hasty decision, he could have allowed the MLAs to visit their constituencies and meet and understand the pulse of the people before convening the session.
Stalin and the DMK must realize that it is ultimately the prerogative of the speaker to convene the house and there was absolutely no need to create the ruckus which they did. Even in the past, we have seen similar incidents of DMK leaders ‘heckled’ and then cry victim. Who can forget the theatrics of Karunanidhi, when he was arrested from his house during AIADMK rule? Times have changed and the people now see through the double standards and greed of the DMK and its cadre.
The AIADMK MLAs belonging to the Sasikala camp must ask themselves if elevation of Sasikala is indeed what Jaya would have wanted. OPS was her loyalist and during her absence, it was always OPS who performed the duties as CM. Sasikala has no past experience in politics and her elevation would only result in the Mannargudi mafia and Natarajan controlling the state of Tamil Nadu. They must remember that Sasikala and her family were expelled by Jaya in 2011 for working against the party. The Chinnamma sycophancy that is at display is laughable, shameful and utterly disgusting.
Finally, let us come to OPS. He alleges that he was not given permission to meet Jaya while she was in hospital and a judicial enquiry must be instituted into her death. Why did he not reveal this during the time Jaya was in hospital and why now, when he has been usurped of power by Sasikala? As long as he was to be the next CM, he decided to remain a mute spectator and now when power has been taken away from him, he finally found his voice and decided to protest.
E Palanisamy may have crossed the hurdle of the floor test, but the road ahead is going to be bumpy and full of potholes for him. The general public in TN is clearly miffed with Sasikala. OPS, who has masterfully played the victim card thus far, is gaining public sympathy. It now awaits to be seen whether Sasikala and her Man Friday Palanisamy are able to run the state for the full term or if there would be fresh polls in the near future. At this moment, it looks like the latter is more likely to happen.
References:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/…/articlesh…/57220932.cms
