Courageous Jaya failed as a visionary ruler

Despite attempts to get justice on water issues, her role in economic development of the state is questionable.

A major unique aspect of the late Jayalalithaa, who dominated Tamil Nadu politics as the supremo of AIADMK for three decades, was that no other politician would have encountered as much attack on her personal character and life. The character assassination was more to do with her being a lady, a film star and a politician.

Neither the social reform movement nor the adulation the cinema stars enjoy reduce either the intensity or frequency of personal attacks on Jayalalithaa, as the change brought in by the social reform movement had been cosmetic.

The inexorable anti-climax that a lady, who never hid her belief in god, being a practicing Hindu and spoke fluent Hindi apart from being a core nationalist, was hard to digest for the old guard, as the Dravidian movement was constructed on the antithesis of what she overtly stood for.

The molestation and near disrobing of her in the assembly in 1989 by the DMK MLAs is
a testimony to this. The slanderous personal attack on her continued even after she established herself as an indispensable political force and occupied the office of chief minister many times.

The positive corollary of her putting up with slander is that she became popular among women across all walks of life. The AIADMK under her stewardship enjoyed about 10% more support among women than men. This has to be seen in the backdrop that no other political party in Tamil Nadu mustered more support among women than men. In spite of all her foibles, women empathised with her tribulations and remained her strong supporters.

The second unique aspect of her political career is that she kept on introducing new faces to the rank and file of AIADMK. This made huge difference to the enthusiasm of the rank and file unlike many other parties which kept their old guard in good humour. By giving opportunities to new faces and make them loyal to her, she established complete control over the party all the time.

The third aspect of her political career is that she treated all religions, cultures and practices as one and equal. Jayalalithaa was the only political leader who wished people on festivals of all hues. In Tamil Nadu, no political leader wishes on festivals of Hindus or non-Tamils.

By shunning parochialism, she extended her appeal to the educated middle class, people of other states settled in Tamil Nadu and in that process, helped AIADMK to consolidate its position in Chennai, which remained the citadel of DMK during the heydays of MGR. Her approach paid enormous dividends to her politically too, as it coincided with Chennai becoming more and more cosmopolitan.

National outlook

The fourth unique aspect of Jayalalithaa’s political career was that in spite of all the tussles with neighbouring states, especially on water disputes, either as chief minister or as opposition leader, she had a national outlook. This cannot be emphasised more given the fissiparous tendencies fanned by various political parties and non-political outfits in Tamil Nadu even at the drop of a hat.

In fact, she kept a tight vigil on LTTE to ensure that they don’t gain a foothold in the state after  Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination and relaxed her stance only when LTTE was exterminated in Sri Lanka. If not for her stance, Tamil Nadu would have witnessed more law and order problems and harboured anti-India sentiments.

In spite of her contribution in getting justice through legal recourse on river water issues, especially Cauvery and Mulla Periyar, her contribution to the economic development of the state is very much questionable. Tamil Nadu is one of the top states in terms of development and some people ascribe this to rule of Dravidian parties since 1967.

Tamil Nadu was a relatively developed region compared to many others even before independence due to the advantage it enjoyed during British rule and till 1970, due to the relatively good administration provided by the Congress governments till 1967.

As a result, the economic and social indicators of the state were better than many other states even before 1967. The 50-year old Dravidian politics archetype, which has been characterised essentially by concession politics and populist measures camouflaged with self-respect, Tamil pride and social justice, aimed at immediate electoral dividends, eroded the economic developmental agenda of Tamil Nadu.

The diminishing return on concession politics and populist measures has eaten away the core of economic development of the state in the last decade.

Jayalalithaa did not differentiate her administration from this archetype in spite of her huge popularity, clear majority in the assembly, her courage and political acumen. More than her demise, her failure to become a visionary ruler of the state even though she ruled it for about 15 years is the greatest disappointment and loss of Tamil Nadu.

(The writer teaches at the T A Pai Management Institute, Manipal)