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Totalloyalty:ThecementthatheldAIADMKTheHindu
Jayalalithaa - 1948-2016
Suresh Nambath
CHENNAI OCTOBER 02, 2016 19:27 IST
UPDATED: DECEMBER 06, 2016 07:07 IST
She would constantly test even staunchest supporters, removing them from party and
government positions, only to reward them later
Tempestuous and mercurial when she is down, placid and cold when she is on top. As actor,
politician and Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa was multi-dimensional in every respect, her mood
and mind changing quickly with her station and situation. But one set of attributes remained
constant: her single-minded determination to wield power, unyielding in her demands of
absolute loyalty from film colleagues, party workers and officials alike.
From the film world, and under her mentor M.G. Ramachandran, she quickly learnt the
lessons of feudal loyalty: she unquestioningly trusted those above her in the hierarchy, and
irrationally distrusted all below. Although her relationship with MGR had as many downs as
there were ups, she owed the start of her political career almost entirely to him. She joined the
party in 1982, and began accompanying MGR to public events. In 1983, she was made the
AIADMKs propaganda secretary, and drafted into campaigning for a by-election.
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In the public mind, she was MGRs trusted ally and confidante and no matter what transpired
between them, she never did anything to cause other people to doubt her proximity to him.
From 1984 to 1989, she was a member of the Rajya Sabha and during this time, she made
acquaintance with Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. She made it a point to network with those
in power in Delhi, unknown to even MGR.
When he fell ill in 1984, and R.M. Veerappan, who never did like her sudden rise in the party,
was in charge of distributing party ticket for the Assembly election at the end of that year,
Jayalalithaa was denied a seat and asked to fulfil her role as propaganda secretary campaign
for those selected as candidates.
Jayalalithaa swallowed the insult, but she would neither forgive nor forget. The AIADMK split
after MGRs death in 1987, with Mr. Veerappan projecting Janaki Ramachandran as the leader
of his faction, and Ms. Jayalalithaa striking out on her own.
Important battle
The DMK won the 1989 Assembly election, but Jayalalithaa too won an important battle: her
party, with 27 seats, was head and shoulders above the Janaki-Veerappan faction, which won
just one seat. When the AIADMK reunited under her leadership, she made Mr. Veerappan the
propaganda secretary, only to deny him a seat in the 1991 election. For accepting this
humiliation without complaining, he was allowed to contest in the by-election to Kangeyam,
a seat Jayalalithaa vacated because she won from Bargur too.
Clearly, Jayalalithaa liked nothing more than her former adversaries begging her for favours.
This was one reason why she admitted people she herself expelled earlier into the party again.
Subramanian Swamy, her bte noir in 1996, was her closest ally in 1998, plotting with her to
bring down the National Democratic Alliance government in 1999.
Similarly, K.P. Sunil, a journalist against whom a privilege motion was moved in the Assembly
during her first term in power between 1991 and 1996, was later given a prominent position in
Jaya TV.
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