The return of J. Jayalalithaa as CM is a remarkable story of political fortitude. Her term in office having been disrupted for a second time by an adverse judicial decision, the “Iron Lady” of Tamil Nadu has bounced back once again while displaying the courage needed to stand up to the tactics of the Opposition. So long as judgments exonerating her withstand legal scrutiny in the Supreme Court, there is no reason to believe she has been in any way diminished by the legal circumstances she faces. In fact, she is a repository of the faith of the people as reflected in her ability to be a charismatic vote-puller in any scenario.
Her absence for 217 days since a verdict in a special court in neighbouring Karnataka had seen the state slide into political uncertainty, leading to great hesitation in decision-making. O. Panneerselvam may have been a loyal foot soldier who sat in her chair for the second time in a kind of caretaker capacity, but he was not the type to inspire confidence in either the people or in industrialists and businessmen running the state’s private economy. The tendency to put off decisions marked his reigns, which is the reason why there is bound to be a surge of business as well as political confidence in the state as Jaya returns to the helm.
The shrewd politician — a symbol of the long fight against prejudices in a historically male-dominated society but which has thrown up several women leaders — has been known to time her assaults well at the hustings. However, regardless of when she believes the iron will be hot to strike soon, since hardly a year is left of the AIADMK’s five-year term, it is her assuming office as a strong CM that is important from the state’s point of view. To tackle any slippages and dip in confidence would be her immediate tasks, before testing the people’s preference in seeking a record term for her party under her tutelage.
There is no one in her party who can make a half decent sally in electoral politics without her umbrella presence. Her ability, as a powerful regional satrap, to withstand any national wave either in favour of the Congress-led alliances or the ones helmed by the BJP places her in a rare category, along with the likes of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal and Naveen Patnaik in Orissa. It remains to be seen what national role she envisions at a time when the ruling BJP-led NDA is stuck for numbers in pushing potential landmark legislation in the Rajya Sabha. Indeed, it is at a critical national juncture that Ms Jayalalithaa is back in focus as a leader with a mind of her own.
