Amma, as Tamil Nadu endearingly calls Jayalalithaa, is not
able to run the show herself.
Her ill health has confined her to a bed on the
second floor of a hospital in Chennai.
We are told Amma’s situation is improving, that she is in
control of things, that orders are being duly executed and/or conveyed by her
closest friend Sasikala and the latter’s extended family.
Sasikala was running and controlling things ever since
Jayalalithaa succeeded MGR, so as to give Amma the needed time and space to
administer the state effectively.
They are ensuring that Amma gets the best possible medi-care
available so that she returns to Poes Garden as early as possible.
There is talk of setting up a parallel
medical facility at Poes Garden to take care of Jayalalithaa in the event of
her return home.
It is said Jayalalithaa is extremely serious that the state’s
administration should not get neglected because of her illness. The top
administrative service officials of the state bureaucracy visit one of the
floors in the hospital daily , to get a briefing on the day’s decisions.
Amma was distracted in her last term , 2011 to 2016, by the
burden of the wealth case against her, but now administration is getting top
billing, we are told.
How long will Amma be in the hospital?
That is the million-dollar question. There is no answer yet.
It is all about retaining power. Who retains it after
Jayalalithaa.
The AIADMK never believed in a second rung of leadership.
MGR ran the party alone, just as Jayalalithaa did thereafter. By compulsion,
the tradition has to be followed after her.
As of now, things – personal and professional – are happily
under the control of Amma’s friend Sasikala.
There is no proof of this, other than reports that the
brother of Amma and her foster son were not allowed to see her in the hospital.
This is what often happens when the rich and famous are
transiting from life to death. The ventilator can become a convenient tool to keep the person alive until the
transfer of power is effected smoothly. Do
recall how another Tamil leader was a guest at the same hospital at the turn of
the century. Murasoli Maran. In the case of Maran, he was alive thanks to artificial
appendages for a long time; that was sufficient time for the family to get a
sense of his affairs.
We are told Amma would be alive to ensure that her successor
is found, selected and in place. But we do not know how much time this exercise
will take. Names of successors – like O. Paneer Selvam or even film star Ajith!
– are inconsequential, as long the fact is clear that the reins will remain
with Sasikala.
If time is not a factor, then a decision may have to be
taken on keeping Amma in the hospital for too long. She’d rather be back home,
we are told.
What is in Sasikala’s mind? We have not been privy to that,
as yet. Just like no one could read Jayalalithaa’s mind when MGR stopped
breathing.
If there’s someone who is equally desperate to read Sasikala’s
mind, it is the DMK patriarch Karunanidhi. A majority of AIADMK legislators
crossing over to his camp for a consideration is an enticing dream. But he will
not make a move now, because that would discredit him in the state where people
will be quick to point out he was playing politics while Amma was helpless. The
other political parties, including the BJP, do not matter.
