Political turmoil in Tamil Nadu does not seem to end soon as the present crisis indicates an inevitable legal and political battle ahead
SG Suryah
In the aftermath of the demise of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on December 6, 2016, her long-time friend and companion VK Sasikala took over the reins and anointed herself as the General Secretary of AIADMK. The AIADMK is currently the ruling party of Tamil Nadu State and is also the third largest contingent in the Indian Parliament only next to BJP and the Indian National Congress.
In the late January, 2017 VK Sasikala suddenly made attempts to usurp power and ascend to the throne of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and tried to ensure that the then incumbent Chief Minister O Panneerselvam resigned. There has been much speculation as to why Sasikala suddenly decided to take this course of action, after about two months of the death of J Jayalalithaa, especially in light of the fact that Panneerselvam was ‘the chosen one’. Apart from wrongfully detaining several members of the legislative assembly, Sasikala has tried everything in the book to cling on to power. She openly threatened to take fight action against Governor Vidyasagar Rao in the courts, and reminded him of his constitutional duty. The Governor on his part followed the tried and tested method of former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao – not taking a decision is also taking a decision.
Much to the relief of those who have been dreading the takeover of the party by Sasikala, who aimed to usurp the Chief Ministership, the Supreme Court has found her guilty of having assets disproportionate to her known source of income, overturning the judgement of the Karnataka High Court, and sentencing Sasikala to complete the remainder of her jail term. By this action of the Supreme Court, Sasikala has effectively been barred from consideration for the post of Chief Minister. Supreme Court justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy in a lengthy judgement of more than 550 pages, restored the conviction and sentence by the trial court over a year ago.
Role of the Governor
A lot has been said about the constitutional propriety of the actions of Governor Rao. A view has been expressed that as per the landmark judgement of the Supreme Court in the Bommai case, it was incumbent on the Governor to swear Sasikala in as Chief Minister and allow her to prove her majority on the floor of the house. Another view has been that due to the impending decision of the Supreme Court in the disproportionate assets case, there was no rush to swear Sasikala in. Whether it was prophetic or just a matter of right judgement the Governor’s action proved to be correct constitutionally and otherwise. Consider the scenario if the Governor had chosen to swear Sasikala in as Chief Minister following the dicta of the Supreme Court in Bommai case, the state would have been in a constitutional turmoil today after the top court set aside the acquittal of Sasikala by the High Court and upheld the conviction and sentence by the trial court. Off course, when the Supreme Court decided Bommai case, they did not contemplate that any Governor in the country would be faced with a situation where a person, who is not a member of the legislative assembly would seeking to be sworn in as Chief Minister on having gathered the requisite support be hanging by a thread of hope against conviction in the disproportionate assets case.
Those questioning the constitutional propriety of the actions (or inaction) of the Governor, in waiting for the judgement of the Supreme Court, have now been proved wrong. His action has been proved to be correct, and constitutionally wise. Political pundits, who have been saying that there is a ploy to destabilise the AIADMK in the state, have now been left to eat mud especially in light of the conviction of Sasikala by the Supreme Court, as the Governor has proved constitutionally correct and stands vindicated.
Long Legal Battle Ahead
It is interesting to note that the corruption case which the Supreme Court finally settled in February 2017 goes back to 1996, soon after Jayalalithaa was voted out of power. Subramanian Swamy had filed a complaint that she had amassed wealth and property disproportionate to her known sources of income. Following it up DMK’s Genereal Secretary Professor Anbazhagan joined the complaint which was investigated under the special court’s direction. The tussle that settled after 20 years
unfortunately paved way for another new set of legal battles that have to be fought in the courts.
The legal battle that is being fought between AIADMK’s Presidium Chairman E Madhusudanan and General Secretary VK Sasikala is making things worse hanging out the future of the party in question regarding the succession. Since both operate as two different camps of AIADMK & each announced the expulsion from the Primary Membership of the other from the AIADMK, now the matter is before the Election Commission of India to identify the real successor of Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK. The Election Commission has issued a notice to VK Sasikala on a petition filed by O. Paneerselvam loyalist Rajya Sabha MP of AIADMK Maitreyan and others challenging the nomination of General Secretary and has sought for a reply before February 28, 2017. This will at least settle the battle for the succession of AIADMK. But it is pertinent to note that VK Sasikala is anointed only as Temporary General Secretary and the constitution of AIADMK prohibits any such act.
It is also important to note that the audited accounts filed with the Election Commission state that the assets of the AIADMK is worth to the tune of Rs 224 crore.
Governance of the state under question
With the succession battle and spat of legal suits to be defended by the ruling AIADMK and the Government of Tamil Nadu, the governance in Tamil Nadu is set to get a big hit. The Ministers and the MLAs who were busy taking sides in the turmoil unfortunately failed in fulfilling their constitutional duties. The legal counsels of the State Government are forced to defend the stand of the ruling dispensation against various suits that are being filed in different courts troubling the day to day governance aspects. The vote of confidence motion of the Tamil Nadu Assembly itself is challenged now with the opposition parties knocking the doors of the Governor and the Apex Courts to declare the Speaker’s decision on the win of current Chief Minister E Palanisamy as null and void. This along with various other suits filed to bar Sasikala as General Secretary have brought in a legal war in Tamil Nadu which seems unending in the near future.
Political way ahead
“A week is a long time in politics,” British Prime Minister Harold Wilson famously said in 1964. If the AIADMK somehow manages to keep its flock together they would be undisturbed for next 4 years till the end of the present Legislative Assembly term in 2021. However, the local body elections in Tamil Nadu somewhere between April and May 2017 can be a real referendum to the political status of different parties and different factions of AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. If the party workers of AIADMK decide to support O Panneerselvam to reignite AIADMK regime, many party workers still feel that they have chance to re-unite AIADMK and can create a clean and good image for the party. Though it is sure that O Panneerselvam lost the number game; it is widely believed that he has already won the hearts of people, it is for time to tell how far he can succeed in the electoral battle and continue the legacy of AIADMK. The next few months will play a vital role in the politics of Tamil Nadu. Whether any new player other than DMK or AIADMK will utilise the ground situation is yet to be seen. Though Jayalalithaa died in office as Chief Minister as a “guiltless” person; the Supreme Court’s verdict will cast a long shadow over her reputation and the legacy of AIADMK.
(The writer is a Chennai based
columnist)
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