While hearing a petition on Jayalalithaa’s death, Justice Vaidyalingam said, “Media has raised a lot of doubts and personally I also have doubts on Jayalalithaa’s death. When she was admitted in hospital, it was said that she was on proper diet. At least after her death, truth should be revealed.”

Jayalalithaa had died on 5 December after a prolonged illness in Chennai’s Apollo hospital. The cause of her illness has since been an intense topic of media speculations and dominated the political discourse of Tamil Nadu politics.

On Wednesday, one of Jaya’s loyalists had alleged that the late leader was poisoned.

Speaking to India Today, Shihhan Hussaini had said, “Everyone knows that Jayalalithaa was murdered. We want to find out who was the conspirator.”

Hussaini had called for exhuming of Jayalalithaa’s body to investigate the real reason of her death.

Today’s development came just after the AIADMK elected VK Sasikala, a close confidante of Jayalalithaa, as the new general secretary of the party.

Courtesy: Janta Ka Reporter
 

The post Madras High Court judge says ‘personally I also have doubts on Jayalalithaa’s death’ appeared first on SabrangIndia.

तमिलनाडु की मुख्यमंत्री जयललिता जयराम नहीं रहीं। उनके बाद यह सवाल तैर रहा है कि उनके बाद दक्षिण के इस अहम राज्य का नेतृत्व कौन करेगा। सवाल उठ रहे हैं कि अम्मा के बाद क्या? अम्मा के बाद कौन। हालांकि इस सवाल का आसान जवाब गुमराह करने वाला होगा। क्योंकि इससे सत्ता के इस खेल में असली ताकतें नहीं दिखेंगी और वे खिलाड़ी भी छिपे रहेंगे, जो इसे खेल रहे हैं।
 
इस वक्त निश्चित तौर पर ओ पन्नीरसेलवम राज्य का नेतृत्व करते दिख रहे हैं। पीएम मोदी की स्क्रिप्ट के मुताबिक ही उन्हें राज्य के सीएम पद की कुर्सी पर बिठाया गया है। दक्षिण में मोदी के दूत एम. वैंकेया नायडू अन्नाद्रमुक के प्रमुख नेताओं और अधिकारियों से यह सुनिश्चित करा चुके हैं, इस मामले में वह नई दिल्ली में तैयार स्क्रिप्ट के मुताबिक ही चलेंगे।
 
पन्नीरसेलवम दो बार अंतरिम सीएम रह चुके हैं। वह राज्य की कमान संभालने वाले एक कमजोर सीएम के तौर पर देखे जा रहे हैं। लेकिन जयललिता के रहते कमजोर दिखने वाले पन्नीरसेलवम क्या आने वाले दिनों भी ऐसे ही रहेंगे। खास कर जब शशिकला नटराजन अन्नाद्रमुक का नेतृत्व कर रही हों। 
 
जयललिता के अंतिम संस्कार के दौरान राजाजी पार्क में उनके शव के पास खड़े होकर रो रहे पन्नीरसेलवम और शशिकला को ढांढस बंधाते पीएम का बार-बार यह कहना कि कोई भी दिक्कत हो, उन्हें तुरंत बताएं। मजबूत बनें। केंद्र हर मदद को तैयार है। यह सारा दृश्य एक चीज साफ कर देता है। मुख्यमंत्री पन्नीरसेलवम तभी तक सुरक्षित हैं जब तक वे मोदी के इशारे पर चलेंगे।
 
पन्नीरसेलवम को अब यह सुनिश्चित करना होगा कि केंद्र सरकार की सरपरस्ती में मजबूत बने रहें और अन्नाद्रमुक के विधायकों और 50 सांसदों को एकजुट रखने की हरचंद कोशिश करें। बहुत कम लोग यह भांप पाएंगे कि पन्नीरसेलवम को मजबूत बनने की मोदी की सलाह के पीछे क्या है। मोदी के इस संदेश का मतलब यह है कि पन्नीरसेलवम अन्नाद्रमुक के अंदर वर्चस्व बनाए रखने के साथ ही विरोधी द्रमुक को भी काबू में रखें।
 
यह ऐसा ऑपरेशन है जिसकी पूरी स्क्रिप्ट केंद्र ने लिखी है। यह सब राजनीतिक स्थिरता के हित में बताया जा रहा है। उस राज्य में जहां एक साल पहले ही जयललिता भारी बहुमत से सत्ता में आई थीं। इस वक्त न तो बीजेपी, अन्नाद्रमुक और न ही द्रमुक ही चुनाव चाहते हैं। हालांकि मौजूदा समय में अन्नाद्रमुक के अंदर के समीकरणों को साधने की सबसे बेहतर कदम साबित होगा।
 
अन्नाद्रमुक के अंदर समीकरण मोदी और केंद्र के लिए सबसे अधिक परेशान करने वाले हैं क्योंकि राज्य में आरएसएस और जयललिता के बीच कभी दोस्ती नहीं रही। मोदी से दोस्ताना संबंध रहने के बावजूद 2011 से ही वह राज्य में आरएसएस के प्रभाव जमाने के खिलाफ रहीं। राज्य में उन्होंने बीजेपी के नेताओं से दूरी बनाए रखी और पार्टी के स्थानीय नेताओं को नजरअंदाज किया। इसलिए मोदी की पन्नीरसेलवम को अपने दायरे में रखने की कोशिश बीजेपी और अन्नाद्रमुक के रिश्तों की वजह से नहीं है। दोनों के बीच लेनदेन का संबंध है और भाजपा को पार्लियामेंट में अन्नाद्रमुक के समर्थन की जरूरत है। यही वजह है कि अन्नाद्रमुक को खुश रखने के लिए थंबीदुरई को डिप्टी स्पीकर बनाया गया।
 
बीजेपी ने न तो जयललिता और न ही उनके किसी मंत्री को परेशान किया। उल्टे जब उन पर भ्रष्टाचार के आरोप लगे और मुकदमा चला तो मोदी सरकार के कानून और वित्त मंत्री ने आगे बढ़ कर जयललिता का समर्थन किया।
जयललिता के जाने के बाद शशिकला के पास कमान हैं। इस खेल के ज्यादातर दांव उन्हीं के पास हैं। उन्हें उन दांवों के बारे में भी पता है जो उनकी मित्र जयलिलता खेलती थीं। अन्नाद्रमुक के पास विशाल संसाधन हैं और संपत्ति है। यह कितनी बड़ी है इसका अनुमान अभी नहीं लगाया गया है। शशिकला और उनकी निकट सहयोगियों को ही पता होगा कि यह संपत्ति कहां-कहां और कितनी है। यही वजह है अन्नाद्रमुक में अभी शशिकला सर्वोपरि हैं।  
 
जयललिता की सबसे नजदीकी शशिकला को ही उनकी हर चीज के बारे में पता है। अन्नाद्रमुक में थेवर जाति का वर्चस्व देखते हुए शशिकला तमिलनाडु का राजनीति में अहम बनी रहेंगी। पन्नीरसेलवम के पीछे वही खड़ी हैं। और जब तक वह खुद को मजबूत नहीं बना लेते बीजेपी को शशिकला के साथ सावधानी के साथ डील करनी होगी।  

इस वक्त शशिकला अन्नाद्रमुक की महासचिव हैं और पार्टी में पर्दे के पीछे की राजनीति में ही उन्हीं का वर्चस्व है। उन्हें गोंडर जाति को भी साधना है, जिससे थंबीदुरई और राज्य के मंत्री ई के पलनीस्वामी आते हैं। शशिकला को यह तय करना है कि क्या यह समय उन्हें पार्टी के अंदर के थेवर समुदाय को गोंडर गुट के साथ समझौते का है। क्योंकि उन्हें पता है कि थंबीदुरई मोदी के पार्ट बी का हिस्सा हो सकते हैं। शशिकला के खिलाफ आय से अधिक संपत्ति का जो मुकदमा चल रहा है, वह भी शशिकला को आक्रामक रवैया अपनाने से रोकेगा।
 
मोदी चाहेंगे कि फिलहाल अन्नाद्रमुक एकजुट रहे। अगले साल राष्ट्रपति चुनाव होने हैं और उनके लिए अन्नाद्रमुक के वोट बहुमूल्य होंगे। इसलिए केंद्र अऩ्नाद्रमुक के अंदर के वर्चस्व वाले गुटों के बीच संतुलन को तवज्जो देगा।
द्रमुक की वजह से भी अन्नाद्रमुक को एकजुट और मजबूत बने रहना होगा। एमजीआर और जयललिता जैसी ताकतवर शख्सियतों के जाने के बाद द्रमुक के लिए बहुत बड़ा अवसर होगा। द्रविड़ जाति के कैडर बेस्ड पार्टी के तौर पर वह फिर आक्रामक रुख अपनाएगी। अन्नाद्रमुक में मजबूत नेताओं की अनुपस्थिति में द्रमुक को आगे फायदा हो सकता है लेकिन इस वक्त अन्नाद्रमुक को मजबूत और एकजुट बने रहना होगा।
 
बहरहाल, बीजेपी की फौरी जरूरत है कि अन्नाद्रमुक पर नियंत्रण बनाए रखे। आगे थोड़े समय और आगे चल कर मध्यावधि में पार्टी इसी रणनीति पर चलेगी। जब अन्नाद्रमुक और अन्य द्रविड़ दलों, भाजपा और कांग्रेस में राजनीतिक समीकरणों में उथल-पुथल मचेगी तभी अगला दांव चला जाएगा।
 
फरवरी , 2017 में तमिलनाडु से कांग्रेस को बाहर हुए 50 साल हो जाएंगे। 2017 में द्रविड़ पार्टियों का रुख कांग्रेस और बीजेपी के लिए राज्य की राजनीति में अहम मोड़ साबित हो सकता है।
 
फिलहाल तमिलनाडु में अम्मा के जाने के बाद यह ‘चिनम्मा’ शशिकला पर निर्भर है कि वह मोदी सरकार और उसकी परोक्ष रणनीति का कैसे सामना करती हैं।
 
शास्त्री रामचंद्रन वरिष्ठ पत्रकार और स्तंभकार हैं।
 
साभार – Newsclick.in

The post तमिलनाडु में पर्दे के पीछे मोदी सरकार appeared first on SabrangIndia.

While the nation still grieves over the untimely passing of Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa, popular actor Gautami Tadimalla has addressed a letter to PM Modi bemoaning the lack of transparency about her health and treatment.

She states that the entire manner in which the whole episode was handled with such a high degree of secrecy gives rise to doubts and leaves several questions unanswered.

The confidence of every Indian in the democratic process that makes our nation so great is precious and must be protected against all odds, she writes further while hoping that the PM understands the anxiety of every Indian to stay informed of any important event that affects their daily life.
Her letter is reproduced below.
 
Dear Sir,
I write this letter to you today as an ordinary citizen of India. I am a homemaker, a mother and a working woman. My concerns and priorities in my life are those that are shared by many of my fellow countrymen, primarily to build a safe and nurturing environment for my family that will allow them to live a safe and fulfilled life.

I am also one among the crores who are mourning the recent shocking demise of our late Chief Minister, Selvi Dr. J Jayalalithaa ji. She was a towering personality in Indian politics and was a great inspiration for women from all walks of life. Her leadership of Tamil Nadu, over several terms in office, has brought us to the forefront in many spheres of development. Selvi Dr. Jayalalithaa ji’s undeniable strength and determination to persevere against all odds are a lasting legacy that will continue to inspire individuals of every gender to persist in pursuit of their dreams in life.

Her demise is all the more tragic and unsettling because of the circumstances over the past few months and the sheer volume of unanswered questions about our late Chief Minister’s hospitalisation, treatment, reported recovery and very sudden passing. There has been a near total blanketing of information regarding these matters. Nobody had been allowed access to her and many dignitaries who visited her with deep concern were denied an opportunity to convey their wishes in person. Why this secrecy and isolation of a beloved public leader and the head of the Tamil Nadu government? What/whose authority restricted access to the late Chief Minister? Who were the concerned persons who were making the decisions about Selvi Dr. J Jayalalithaa ji’s treatment and care when her health was apparently in such a delicate state? And who is responsible for these answers to the people? These and many other burning questions are being asked by the people of Tamil Nadu and I echo their voice in bringing them to your ears, sir.

No doubt some might say that it is a moot point because it has happened as it has, but that, sir, is precisely my fear. I ask these questions now because it is a primary concern and right of every citizen of India to be aware of and informed about their democratically elected leaders. To be aware of their state of health and ability to perform their duties for the larger good of the people. To be concerned for the wellness and comfort of a beloved leader of the masses. And the fact that a tragedy of such tremendous scale should not go unquestioned and definitely, not unanswered, under any circumstances. If this be the case with a public figure of this magnitude, then what chance does the common citizen of India have when he fights for his personal rights? The confidence of every Indian in the democratic process that makes our nation so great is precious and must be protected against all odds.

I am writing to you now, sir, with the complete confidence that you share my anxiety and determination to uphold the rights of every Indian to be aware and informed of any factor that impacts our day-to-day life. You have proven yourself in many ways to be a leader who is unafraid to stand up for the rights of the common man and I am confident that you will heed the call of your fellow countrymen.

With my deepest respects and trust

Jai Hind!
Gautami Tadimalla

Courtesy: The News Minute
 

The post Gautami raises questions on Jayalalithaa’s ‘unsettling’ death, writes to PM Modi appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Jayalalithaa Jayaram is dead. What remains alive is the abounding speculation: After Amma, what? The question of ‘Who, after Amma’, though easily answered can be misleading, for it conceals the real powers at play and the players in power. 

Right now, the visible, obvious Who is O Panneerselvam. He has been put in the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s chair by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As his point man, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu ensured that the Governor, key AIADMK figures and state officials stuck to the script written in Delhi. 

Panneerselvam, who was twice interim chief minister, may appear to be a case of the meek inheriting the government. Whether the man who was meek under Jayalalithaa would remain so after the Iron Lady has gone — and when her confidante Sasikala Natarajan is the AIADMK’s undisputed power centre at this juncture of transition – has to be watched. 

Modi standing beside Jayalalithaa’s body in Rajaji Hall; hugging an inconsolable Panneerselvam who repeatedly breaks down; asking him to stay strong; emphatically telling him within everyone’s earshot that “Any time on any issue, feel free. We are with you”; and, patting a no less distraught Sasikala on her head even while his body is turned against her. All these capture the underlying plot with stunning clarity: that Chief Minister Panneerselvam is safe and secure as long as he stays within Modi’s embrace. 

All he has to do is stay put and strong in the knowledge that the Union Government is solidly behind him and will stop at nothing to keep together the AIADMK flock of legislators, including the 50 MPs. Few would doubt that Modi’s “stay strong” message to Panneerselvam was an exhortation to hold his own against any and all in the AIADMK and also the DMK, which is waiting in the wings, biding its time. 

This is a holding operation, scripted by the Centre, avowedly in the interests of “political stability in state, where the assembly elections which brought Jayalalithaa to office were held earlier this year. No one, including the BJP, AIADMK and the DMK want elections when the present assembly has four more years of its term to go. However, in the present state of flux in Tamil Nadu, re-set of equations within the AIADMK appear as inevitable as political realignments in the state. 

The equations within the AIADMK are the most worrying issue for Modi and the Centre, given the fact that there was no love lost between the RSS and Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu. Since 2011, she had shunned the RSS, given no quarter to the Hindutva outfits and, despite her friendly disposition towards Modi, she kept the BJP at a distance and ignored the party’s state ‘leaders’. Thus, Modi’s hold over Panneerselvam and the AIADMK is as head of the Central Government, and not because of any close ties between the BJP and AIADMK. The two had a transactional relationship at the national level because the BJP needed the AIADMK’s support in Parliament. And, to keep on the right side of Jayalalithaa, the BJP made the AIADMK’s M Thambidurai Deputy Speaker. 

Jayalalithaa is the one Chief Minister that neither Modi nor any of his ministers needled. In fact, the Union Finance and Law Ministers went out of their way to cosy up to Jayalalithaa when she was facing charges of corruption and being tried for possession of disproportionate assets. 

After Jayalalithaa, it is Sasikala who holds most of the cards, especially the aces, with which her leader and close friend played the political game with skill and finesse. The AIADMK has vast resources and its assets are yet to be estimated, though these are unlikely to be ever made public in full. Perhaps, only Sasikala and her associates know the nature and extent of the party’s and Jayalalithaa’s assets. This makes Sasikala the Numero Uno, at this moment, in the AIADMK. 

As the one who was closest to Jayalalithaa, knows every detail of what she’s left behind, heir to her legacy unless legally challenged, the pre-eminent power centre in post-Amma AIADMK and a power within the Thevar community which calls the shots within the party, Sasikala is the most important political figure in Tamil Nadu. She is the power behind Panneerselvam; and, Modi and Venkaiah Naidu need to tread warily until the new Chief Minister emerges in his own right, which too may mean problems for Modi. But that would later. 

Right now, it has to be seen whether Sasikala takes on a formal role as the AIADMK’s General Secretary or sticks to the greater power she wields behind the scenes. She also has to contend with the Gounder community, to which Thambidurai and state minister E K Palaniswamy belong. She has to gauge whether the situation within the party calls for the Thevar lobby to strike a deal with the Gounder faction, knowing that Thambidurai may be part of Modi’s Plan B. The disproportionate assets case against Sasikala, which will continue, is also a factor. 

Modi would like to keep the AIADMK intact and sustain the holding operation at least until next year’s presidential election, for which the AIADMK votes would be invaluable. That requires the Centre to maintain some sort of truce and equilibrium between competing factions and ambitious caste groups within the AIADMK. 

The only rationale for the AIADMK coming into being and existing was anti-Karunanidhi. With the dominant anti-Karunanidhi personalities, namely MGR and Jayalalithaa gone, the DMK might exert a powerful pull as the natural home of the Dravida cadres. In the long run, the DMK may be the natural beneficiary especially if no leader of statute rises from within the AIADMK to hold the party together. 

Before that there is the present, the immediate future of the holding operation, the short term and the medium term when it would be open season in the AIADMK, between Dravida parties, for all parties in Tamil Nadu and for the BJP and Congress. 

In February 2017, it would be 50 years since the Congress party was banished from Tamil Nadu. 2017, the year of reckoning for the Dravida parties, the BJP and the Congress, may well prove to be a turning point for the state. 

With Amma gone, it all depends on ‘Chinnamma’ Sasikala and how she plays it with Modi Sarkar and its proxy in Tamil Nadu.

Shastri Ramachandaran is a senior journalist and columnist

Courtesy: Newsclick.in

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जयललिता ने नवंबर 2004 को वो कर दिखाया जो शायद कोई और सोच भी नहीं सकता था। कांचीपुरम मठ के मैनेजर की हत्या कर दी गई थी। इसकी जांच में पता चला कि कांची की शंकराचार्य हत्या में शामिल थे। आदि शंकराचार्य द्वारा स्थापित चार पीठों में से एक काँची के शंकराचार्य जयेन्द्र सरस्वती और 23 संतों को जयललिता की पुलिस ने पकड़कर वेल्लौर सेंट्रल जेल भेज दिया। 
 
किसी शंकराचार्य की गिरफ़्तारी का यह पहला और अकेला मामला है। हिंदू धर्म में शंकराचार्य की अपनी एक महत्वता है और ऐसे में एक शंकराचार्य को गिरफ्तार करना न केवल पुलिस बल्कि सरकार के लिए भी बड़ी चुनौती थी। जहां बड़े-बड़े राजनेता शंकराचार्यों के सामने घुटने टेकते हों वहां जयललिता ने उन्हें गिरफ्तार कराने का अदम्य साहस दिखाया। 
 
कराचार्य की गिरफ्तारी के बाद न केवल प्रदेश में बल्कि समूचे देश में विरोध प्रदर्शन हुए। मगर सरकार ने कोई समझौता न करते हुए जयेंद्र सरस्वती को गिरफ्तार कर कानून के कठघरे में खडा किया और इसके बाद जयललिता न केवल सेक्युलर बल्कि लोकतात्रिक नेता के रुप में सामने आयीं।
 
इस मामले पर वरिष्ठ पत्रकार दिलीप मंडल लिख रहे हैं…
वह नारी थी। तुलसीदास के हिसाब से पशु और शूद्रों की ही तरह "ताड़न की अधिकारी" थी। लेकिन जब क़ानून का राज लागू करने की बारी आई तो जयललिता ने मनुस्मृति के नियम तोड़ दिए।

भारत के इतिहास में पहली बार एक शंकराचार्य गिरफ़्तार हुआ। पुलिस पकड़कर ले गई। 23 चेलों के साथ जेल में ठूँस दिया।

भारतीय जातिवादी मीडिया जयललिता के प्रति, अपने अंतिम निष्कर्ष में, निर्मम साबित होगा।

देखते रहिए।

Courtesy: National Dastak
 

The post जयललिता ने दिखाया था शंकराचार्य को गिरफ्तार कराने का दम appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Tamil Nadu now has India’s lowest fertility rate–lower than Australia, Finland and Belgium–second best infant mortality and maternal mortality rate; records among the lowest crime rates against women and children; and has more factories and provides more industrial employment than any other Indian state, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of various data sets.
 
However, financing the freebie culture came at a cost. Tamil Nadu witnessed a 92% increase in debt  over five years ending 2015, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of state budgets in November 2015.

 
Tamil Nadu’s education indicators have always been above the Indian average and have steadily improved during Jayalalithaa’s 15-year stint as chief minister.

Although Tamil Nadu regularly reports violence and discrimination based on caste, the state’s crime rates are among India’s lowest, particularly those relating to women and children.

 
As regards industrial growth, Tamil Nadu has more factories than any other Indian state (37,378),  according to the Annual Survey of Industries, 2013-14. Maharashtra ranks second with 29,123 factories, followed by Gujarat with 22,876. More people are engaged in industrial work
(2.04 million) in Tamil Nadu of any Indian state; Maharashtra (1.8 million) is second and Gujarat (1.37 million) third.

 Tamil Nadu’s per capita income is India’s fifth highest, but the four states preceding it are substantially smaller. Among the country’s large states, it has the richest people.
 

Freebies come at a cost
 
Jayalalithaa is known for the freebie culture, which she did not begin but did expand, personalising it along the way. For instance, her 2011 election promises included 100 units of free electricity to every household, a free laptop for class 11 and class 12 students (with free internet connections), a gram of sovereign gold as marriage assistance, and four goats/sheep to families who lived below the poverty line. The laptops had images of “Amma (mother)”, as Jayalalithaa was popularly known. Other programmes also carried that name, such as Amma canteens (for subsidised food) and Amma medicals (for subsidised medicines).
 
While some programmes were applauded as having a social effect–such as the midday meal scheme, which Tamil Nadu pioneered before Jayalalithaa took office for the first time in 1991 and encouraged children to stay in school–they resulted in the fastest rising debt of any Indian state, as IndiaSpend reported in November 2015.
 

Source: Reserve Bank of India, Census 2011
 
Debt, per se, is not bad, if the state’s economic growth can sustain and service it. So, the key matrix is the debt as a percentage of the state’s gross domestic product (GSDP) or total economic output. Tamil Nadu’s debt-to-GSDP ratio at 20% is lower than the national average, an indication the state is growing despite the spike in debt.
 
(Salve is an analyst with IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend
 

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Jayalalithaa’s failing health condition has sent shock waves in Tamil Nadu. But Amma’s followers are not giving up on the prayers for their determined leader with an iron fist to make a quick recovery. Bringing glamour to the dreary world of politics, Amma as she is known, has ruled with an iron fist and often displayed signs of authoritarianism

She grew up being multi-lingual, being fluent in languages, as a student. Hindi, English, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu, Jayalalitha and mastered the gift of fluent communication  even winning the Gold State Award for topping the Std 10 examination in all of Tamil Nadu. From there, it was a carrier in acting that began with a part in an English play “Epistle” in 1961; and then armed with fair skin and looks –the requirements of the silver screen—she went on to act in over 140 films of which 60 were in Tamil.
 
J Jayalalithaa’s debut was in the Tamil film with Vennira Aadai in 1965. This was the first film to be rated ‘Adults Only’ since Marma Yogi got an A certificate in 1951. The irony was Jayalalitha could not watch her film being an underage. The Film Certification body was not too happy as she was the first Tamil actress to wear sleeveless blouses and even allowed herself to get suggestively drenched under a waterfall! What followed were a stream of successes movies starting with Venniradai in 1965, followed by Ayirathil Oruvan, Kudi Iruntha Kovil, Gallata Kalyanam, Adimai Penn, Oli Villaku and Deiva Magan. Jayalalithaa was one of the most prominent faces of the South film industry and bankable stars of the 1960s.
 

Jaya the Authoritarian Ruler

Among the more memorable lines that flowed from J. Jayalalithaa was this gem about the media in India: "The people of this country are illiterate. They don't read newspapers and don't care what the papers write." 

Thirteen years ago in mid-November 2003, ensconced within the high security walls of her Poes Garden residence, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu must have quietly eaten her words. Using her brute majority, she got the Tamil Nadu Assembly to pass a resolution sentencing five senior editors of The Hindu and the editor of DMK newspaper Murasoli to 15 days in jail.

Their crime: The Hindu in April this year had published an editorial titled "Rising Intolerance" which had attacked Jayalalitha's authoritarian ways. The editor of the DMK mouthpiece was sentenced for merely reproducing a translation of The Hindu editorial in the Tamil newspaper. Following her deplorable words, on the evening of November 7, half an hour after the state Assembly passed the resolution, a police team stormed The Hindu office on Chennai's arterial Mount Road to arrest its Editor N. Ravi, Executive Editor Malini Parthasarathy, Bureau Chief V. Jayant, Special Correspondent Radha Venkatesan and Publisher S. Rangarajan. " It is not the privilege of the Assembly to protect the chief minister's reputation," he said. The Hindu, which moved the Supreme Court a day after the police came calling at its offices, obtained a stay on the arrests on November 10.
 
After appearing to be defiant initially – she filed fresh defamation cases against The Hindu even as the apex court granted the stay – Jayalalithaa softened up, saying her Government would fully comply with the court order. Evidently, she can scarcely afford to antagonise the court which is soon to decide on the TANSI land scam in which she is the main accused.
 
Jayalalithaa's dislike for the press has been part of parcel of her rule, a trait she shares with prime minister Narendra Modi. Soon after she came to power in May 2001, a TV reporter was arrested and 150 journalists protesting the arrest were kept in police custody for a day. The Hindu has faced 16 defamation cases, all filed since the AIADMK came to power. And so long as the privilege rights of the legislatures are not codified brute state power as displayed by Jayalalithaa can prove to be mightier than the pen.
 
Her misuse of power and position has also been consistently directed towards her critics. In August this year, the Supreme Court told Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa that as a public leader, she must learn to face criticism. The sharp rebuke came while the court was hearing a petition filed by DMDK chief Vijayakanth seeking dismissal of a defamation case filed against him by the state government. “No other state misuses the state machinery like the Tamil Nadu government. Defamation cases can’t be slapped for merely reporting on CM’s health condition,” the court was quoted saying.
 
In July 2016, the court had observed that defamation cases cannot be used as a political counter-weapon against critics of the government. It had further stayed the non-bailable warrants that were issued against Vijayakanth and his wife Premlata. The case against the couple was lodged by the Public Prosecutor of Tirupur district on the allegation that they made false remarks against the Chief Minister and criticised the working of the state government. Reportedly, 14 cases of defamation have been slapped against Vijayakanth.
 
Following close suit to the dangerous trends evident in the fashion in which the law enforcement agencies –police, federal agencies—have been misusing sedition laws after the Modi regime swept to power in May 2014 –the Tamil Nadu state police, under Jayalalitha, slapped sedition charges against six social activists and human rights defenders of ‘Makkal Adhikaram’ (People’s Rights), a social organisation in Tamil Nadu, for simply organising a meeting/conference to demand closure of State-run liquor outlets in Tamil Nadu. The activists were allegedly charged under sedition for making inflammatory speeches at the event held on February 14, 2016 at the Uzhavar Sandhai Ground in Tiruchirappalli over the issue of Tasmacliquor shops across the state of Tamilnadu. An appeal on the case has been issued by Human Right Defenders Alert-India (HRDA).

MGR the Mentor

It was the legendary film star turned astute politician, M. G. Ramachandran (simply MGR) who was J Jayalalithaa’s inspiration and thereafter her godfather. MGR founded Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) and went on to become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in 1977. MGR was the first film actor to become the CM of an Indian state. Jayalalithaa followed the footsteps of her guru to become successful actor turned politician.
 
J Jayalalithaa acted with MGR on several film projects. They gave a smash hit movie Ayirathil Oruvan in 1965. This pair delivered huge critically and commercially successful hits in the 60s like Thaikku Thalaimagan (1967), Kannan En Kadhalan(1968), Oli Vilakku (1968), Rahasya Police 115 (1968) and Mattukkara Velan (1969).
 

Jayalalithaa's Disproportionate Assets Case

Incumbent Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayaram Jayalalitha, was finally acquitted in the infamous 18-year-old disproportionate assets (amounting to Rs. 66.65 crore) and corruption case by the Karnataka High Court on 11 May 2015. A trial court had convicted and sentenced her to four years of jail as well as a fine of Rs. 100 crore on 27 September 2014. Jayalalitha filed an appeal challenging the decision in the Karnataka High Court. These charges were held “not sustainable” by the special bench of the Karnataka High Court. Earlier, the five-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu was held guilty by a special court in Bangalore in a disproportionate assets case and had to vacate her post as a consequence. The charges were levelled by Dr. Subramanian Swamy in 1996. She was convicted under IPC 109 and 120 (b) along with 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

Earlier, in 2001, the Supreme Court today dealt a severe blow to the political career of the AIADMK chief, Ms. Jayalalithaa, by quashing her appointment as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu by the then Governor, Ms. Fathima Beevi, on May 14.A five-judge Constitution Bench, in a unanimous verdict of 5-0, held “a person who is convicted for a criminal offence and sentenced to imprisonment for a period of not less than two years cannot be appointed the Chief Minister of a State under Article 164 (1) read with (4) and cannot continue to function as such.'' In effect, the court rejected the argument that a popular mandate – or the `will' of the people – could override the Constitution. The Bench observed that it was not impressed by the submission that the court should not issue a quo warranto as the six-month period, allowed by Article 164 (4), would expire in about two months and it was possible for Ms. Jayalalithaa to succeed in the criminal appeals (in the TANSI cases) filed by her in the Madras High Court. “We take the view that the appointment of a person to the office of Chief Minister who is not qualified to hold it should be struck down at the earliest.'' The Bench did not accept the contention that once a sentence was stayed by the High Court and an appeal was pending, the conviction would not operate and Ms. Jayalalithaa suffered no disqualification, and said “conviction and sentence it carries operate against the accused in all their rigour until set aside in appeal, and a disqualification that attaches to the conviction and sentence applies as well.''

Fifteen years later, the AIDMK supremo, obtained interim bail, extended over two periods, also in a corruption case where a lower court had convicted her in December 2014.
 

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