It was a fine day in the year 1984 when the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi came to Rajya Sabha. Seat number 185 which was Anna Durai’s seat in 1963 was occupied by an actress elected to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu. It was her turn to make her maiden speech as a Member of Parliament. Majority opinion in the house was fixated as ‘an actress who became MP due to her being in the good books of MGR’.
Any parliamentarian would least expect an actress to give a sensational oration. The speech was about the electricity crisis of Tamil Nadu laden with facts, content and immaculate diction.
Indira Gandhi was stunned and the Deputy Chairman of the House PJ Kurien said “she’s from the cinema world and nobody expected such a serious speech “. Parliamentarians praised her as “beauty with brains”.
Even though she had the luxury of support and political grooming from MGR there was no escape route for her than to face the patriarchy and betrayal which is the unsaid norm of politics.
Actors and actress today in Tamil Nadu believe that popularity will help them to get established in politics. Little are they aware that administration is a separate ball game and requires a separate part of the brain with exceptional skills. The late Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Selvi. Jayalalithaa truly was one. A bold, fierce and an unapologetic leader who did no appeasement politics. This is what made her a leader with an iron hand in true sense.
One such example is the walk-out by Jayalalithaa during the National Development Council meeting in 2013. When all the Chief Ministers were given 10 minutes of duration to speak on the issues concerning their respective states, she expressed her dissatisfaction and walked out of the meeting. She proved that she can puncture any central government if it exploited the federal principles.
On the other hand, she extended all her support when it came to national interest. She was a pioneer in dismantling the Naxal apparatus in forest ranges of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. A clear nationalist who was against the ceding of Kaatchatheevu to Sri Lanka also gave her support to the construction of Ram Mandir. She said and I quote “If we cannot build a temple for Ram in India, then where else do we build?“. She was in favour of Uniform Civil Code in 2003 with a belief that it would ensure equality to all citizens. She promised that the AIADMK would extend unconditional support to UCC and there is no doubt that her team will stand by her words.
She focused on keeping Tamil Nadu as a balanced welfare state and made the state “Detroit of Asia”. From cradle scheme to rain water harvesting her intelligence reflected in her innovative schemes. Amma Unavagam was applauded not only within the country but also won accolades from across the world. Egyptian government had travelled to Chennai to study the model and implement it in their country. Her personality and leadership made leaders like Hillary Clinton across the world to visit her when she was in office.
They say “Yatha Raja Tattha Praja” (Like the king, so the people). Her presence gave a strong sense of security to the Tamils. However her demise has been exploited by creating restlessness and insecurity in the state by multiple social activists, political commentators, actors and media. Jayalalithaa, a daughter of India was Amma to millions of Tamils. Her contribution to Tamil Nadu will be spoken for ages to come.
(Views expressed here are the author’s own)
(Feature image credits: India Today)