What will Jayalalithaa the person and the politician do now? ( Copy Right @ The News Minute, Author- Dhanya Rajendran)

What will Jayalalithaa the person and the politician do now?

Dhanya Rajendran| The News Minute| October 17, 2014| 5.00 pm IST

“It is already Deepavali for us,” said many AIADMK supporters gathered outside Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden residence in Chennai, AIADMK office and Bangalore Central jail as they burst crackers and distributed sweets.

Much has been written about what the sentence means for Jayalalithaa, much will be written about what the bail implies for her political and personal future. The political implications are important, but I would like to dwell first on what the bail and coming out of prison will mean for Jayalalithaa, the person. 

Everybody, personal staff, political leaders, cadres and especially, her legal team, are greatly relieved as the former Chief Minister will be back at her abode, back in familiar territory and amongst the luxuries she is accustomed to.

The daily pujas at Poes Garden have been conducted without fail even in her absence, Jaya TV employees were given Deepavali bonus on time, but nothing has been the same without Amma around. 

Though there have been many media reports about what she did in jail, the fact remains that she hasn’t met a soul from outside jail, spending her time reading newspapers daily with curd rice as her main diet.

Living in jail is obviously not easy for anyone, least of all for someone like Jayalalithaa. Even if air-conditioning was provided to keep her comfortable in her jail cell, it would be nothing compared to the ‘freezing’ controlled temperatures maintained inside her houses via centralized air conditioning, whether at Poes Garden or even Kodanadu in Ooty. 

What would Jayalalithaa do once she is back? Conduct more pujas? Would she banish anyone? Then, there is the library at her Poes Garden residence which is her pride. One could only wonder if she would go back, and pick a legal book to read. 

One element that worries everyone in her team is who will face her wrath first. Jayalalithaa will walk out of jail soon and hold many people ‘responsible’ for her fate. Who will that be? A worried lawyer told me, “It’s my fault, I think Amma will sack me.” He looked genuinely scared, and that’s perhaps the emotion that almost everyone close to her is feeling now.

After she unleashes her anger, those who know Jayalalithaa well say her priorities will now be to talk to her legal team, consult astrologers and conduct pujas. (In no particular order)

Her staff expects that as soon as she is settled in, one of her first moves will be to gauge the damage done to her image and determine what the media has been saying behind her back by going through news channel recordings and Chennai editions of newspapers that have piled up since her conviction.

Whether she ruled as Chief Minister or sat in the opposition, one thing Jayalalithaa did diligently was to watch the news. The content of every prime time news bulletin on Jaya TV would be sent to her every day. Before and after bulletins, she would give feedback on changes in content, anchor, tickers and almost everything in detail.

More than 30 DVDs with recordings of Jaya TV news bulletins in the last few days has already been dispatched to Poes Gardens. On a daily basis, her staff records certain bulletins of English news channels, especially Times Now and Arnab Goswami’s News Hour.

This time too, bulletins of many English news channels and one rival Tamil channel on her imprisonment, especially the one mentioned above, have been marked and kept ready for ‘Madam’ to review. Local editions of newspapers and clipping of her jail coverage have been kept ready. 

What does this bail mean for Jayalalithaa, the politician?

Deja vu strikes again as she will hold the remote control for governance in hand for the second time. O Panneerselvam now has the dubious distinction of being a puppet CM twice in his life.

But, first things first. Before all this, she will give priority to ensure she gets exonerated or at least ensure her that conviction is stayed. Navjot Singh Sidhu contesting for elections in 2009 after the Supreme Court stayed his conviction in 2007 is one such example she would aim to achieve.

Politically, 2016 will be very important for Jayalalithaa and others in the fray. Despite his age, Karunanidhi still dreams of seeing one more term as Chief Minister, while Stalin, his protégé, hopes for a dream first run. Even as father and son clash, their immediate priority will be to defeat Jayalalithaa. Even Alagiri, the banished son, might be brought back into the fold, if the situation demands. 

Apart from the DMK, the BJP is slowly gaining a strong presence in the state, a presence that currently cannot threaten either the DMK or AIADMK, but cannot be ignored. Efforts are being made to rope in a strong face to represent the party, the likes of Rajinikanth or Khushboo. The superstar has shown no signs now of relenting and agreeing to join the BJP, and it will be no short of a miracle if he agrees.

On the people front, many believe she will strategize on how to use the sympathy generated from the conviction and ensuing imprisonment and convert it quantifiably during an election. Would she open up and talk publicly about what she went through this last 20 days? Or will she blame her most hated adversary, Karunanidhi for scheming and sending her to jail at 66?

One knows from history, that Jayalalithaa is not known to be someone who talks freely about her personal life, so the only slight chance remains that she will dole out more sops to the public to keep them happy.

Even as she has a number of different priorities to worry about, whether she remains in the CM chair or not, she will make sure people remember that their welfare is most important in her mind. 

We wish the best to her astrologers and legal team as of now.

With inputs from Sameera Ahmed

Original link to the article: http://www.thenewsminute.com/politics/786