One month of Jayalalithaa rule

By V. Jayanth

CHENNAI, JUNE 15. A month has gone by since Ms. Jayalalithaa assumed office as Chief Minister, after winning a huge mandate in the May elections. Though she has made a beginning in addressing some of the pressing problems facing the people, Ms. Jayalalithaa has to come to terms with reality and look to the future, and should not look back at the past.

There are at least three major steps the new Government has taken: the first was to completely revamp the police set-up and prepare to relaunch the operation to nab forest brigand Veerappan; the second was the move to deal with the major water crisis staring Chennai in the face; and the third was to begin in right earnest the search for `skeletons' in the DMK cupboard.

A striking feature of the government's very first month in office is the near-total shake-up of the administration. Dozens of IAS and IPS officers have been moved, shunted and rehabilitated in a phased manner. The process is not yet complete, but most of the officials are already demoralised by this exercise. So much so, the general reaction of `non-committed' officers now appears to be ``Why rock the boat, why take the initiative; let things happen''. The politicisation of the bureaucracy seems to be complete.

Equally significant have been the sudden dropping of three Ministers, induction of three new faces and a consequent reshuffle in portfolios. Whether intended or not, a message has gone down to the Ministers that they should not do anything on their own - least of all, talk to the media. When Ministers themselves are in such a situation the plight of officials can well be imagined. Even normally press-friendly officials do not want to be seen talking to reporters.

The Opposition, still recovering from the drubbing it received in the elections, has focussed on the ``political vendetta'' of the new regime. The arrest of some politicians, the filing of several cases and the lingering threat of more serious action to follow have caused sleepless nights to both Opposition leaders and the media. The theatre has now shifted to courts.

As for the allies of the ruling AIADMK, there is still some semblance of bonhomie. The TMC leader, Mr. G. K. Moopanar, hosted a luncheon for the Chief Minister; the party's leader in the Assembly, Mr. S.R. Balasubramoniyan, has had a fruitful meeting with Ms. Jayalalithaa. But that is about all. The other major ally, PMK, is waiting for things to happen. Perhaps elections to the Rajya Sabha may provide the true index of unity in the `secular front'. Since the AIADMK can take four of the six seats on its own and the DMK win a fifth, the race is already on for the sixth seat. The outcome will depend on which way the wind blows. If the two communist parties go with the TMC, the match is over. But if the AIADMK wants to favour the PMK, what will happen?

Ms. Jayalalithaa also managed a rather successful visit to Delhi earlier this month to work out smooth Centre-State relations which need not be tinged with politics. In fact, even during the election campaign, she was soft on the BJP. So the Centre has no room to complain, though the BJP leaders may not have forgotten the past so soon.

The focus will soon shift to the first budget of the AIADMK Government. Having gifted over Rs. 300 crores to wipe out the interest due on agricultural cooperative loans, it remains to be seen how the Chief Minister and her Finance Minister will balance the budget and bring the deficit under control.

But the most important issue that still remains uncertain is the Chief Minister's own political future and her legal tangle. Can she emerge victorious from the legal challenges and that too within the six-month deadline before which she must be elected to the legislature? Her party functionaries appear confident and have ventured many solutions. But the strategy Ms. Jayalalithaa will adopt to remove the legal obstacles to her continuing in office remain a mystery. Her course of action may become clear in the next few weeks.

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Section  : Southern States
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