‘Sasikala
releases first list of ADMK candidates for the Assembly Elections’
‘Jaya
expels Sasikala from Poes’
‘Sasikala
returns to Poes Garden’
All
the above sentences ruled the regional headlines of our newspapers in the
beginning of this decade.
Those
who had followed Tamilnadu politics for quite a while, had they not forgotten
these incidents, will have no reason to be surprised on Sasikala's elevation as
CM.
'How
can a servant maid turn CM within a day, that too without people's mandate ?'
'I
am thinking about moving out of Tamilnadu because I cannot accept Sasikala as
my CM'
The
above are some of the reactions that I have been seeing on social media soon
after news of Sasikala's elevation became public.
First
let us talk about the validity of these reactions to this sudden development in
Tamilnadu.
With
respect to the accusation that a ‘servant maid’ is ascending the throne, let me
hasten to add that Sasikala had ceased to be a servant maid to Jaya for almost
a decade. One of her relatives had won contracts from the TASMAC soon after the
inception of the Government Corporation, for his multi-crore Midas
Distilleries. The relationship of Midas with TASMAC continued even during the
days of DMK regime and lasts to this day.
Various
authentic sources also confirm that Sasi's cronies own lot of companies that
are directly in control of the State's natural resources with the active, legal
co-operation of the Tamilnadu government.
That
Sasikala had control over Jaya's selection of MLA/MP candidates is proven by
the fact that she released a list of candidates for the 2011 Assembly polls
ignoring the roles of ADMK’s alliance partners- DMDK and the Left. The alliance
partners then, appealed to Jaya immediately after the incident, that she had to
declare the list 'unofficial' within a day, replacing it with a fresh one
subsequently.
A
lot of newspapers reported that during every election, Sasikala was very much
part of the 'Election interview process' through which she kept firming her
hold over the party by selecting candidates who were amenable to her.
Sasikala's
grip didn't remain confined to the legislature alone. She and her cronies had
penetrated even into the State's Executive and many top bureaucrats of
Tamilnadu including those in the Police Department had close associations with
Sasikala and her family.
Many
industrialists in Tamilnadu, had been subject to severe 'extortion' from
Sasikala family which had, by the beginning of Jaya's third term, transformed
into what is now known as the 'Mannargudi Mafia'.
All
the information I have furnished above did not take much time and effort to be
gathered, and anyone who had even a very sparing interest in TN politics would
already be knowing all this.
And
let me also add that even most of them who knew enough of the 'Mannargudi
Mafia' and who knew very well that the Mafia had been running the ADMK for
quite a while, continued to vote for the party because Jaya was its leader.
This
practice of voting for a leader, however corrupt a party is, is one of the
biggest mistakes that we, as an immature electorate, have been committing from
time immemorial. Voting for a leader, instead of voting for a party or its
ideology, has done more harm to the country than good, right from our
Independence.
In
1984, we voted for the Congress after the assassination of Indira Gandhi and
inspite of the subsequent Congress-sponsored Sikh genocide(more than 10000
Sikhs killed), only because we loved the slain leader and badly wanted his son
to succeed her.
In
1998, we voted the BJP to power at the Centre, quite aware of the fact that the
party was solely responsible for Babri Masjid Demolition and the subsequent
riots, only because the leader was a moderate Atal Bihari Vajpayee. We ended up
having 2002 Gujarat riots which killed more than a thousand Indians.
In
2014, we voted for the BJP overwhelmingly inspite of its dubious secular
credentials, only because a single man named Modi promised that he would
deliver India out of corruption. The Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh and the
Sahara Birla Diaries stand testimony to the fact that a single man, however
honest and efficient he may sound, cannot accomplish anything if his
organisation, by nature, is wholly corrupt.
One
of my friends, very recently told me, to my surprise, that he hates RSS but adores
Modi. He added that he abhors Hindu extremism but loves Modi’s brand of
politics.
RSS
is an organization which believes in and works towards the formation of a Hindu
Rashtra where minorities are bound to be second-class citizens. This is the
core principle of the RSS and none can be an RSS pracharak if he doesn't
believe in this. If Modi doesn't believe in RSS principles, there is no reason
why he should have joined the organisation. Nobody joins an organization if he
is at variance with its core principles. Hence if you are voting for Modi, it
is implied that you are endorsing communal politics. If you argue that you
voted only for his anti-corruption agenda and not for his communal politics, it
means you did not do adequate research about him and his organization.
The
RSS and it's offshoot BJP would lose their identity if they stop being
communal. And this is the reason why the BJP, all these days speaking about bringing
‘development’, have picked their 'communal card' back for the upcoming UP
assembly elections, openly promising to build the Ayodhya temple in their
manifesto.
Now
let me come back to the Sasikala saga. If you were responsibly following TN
politics over the decade, and thereby knew very well that the Mafia was
controlling the party, but still kept voting for ADMK because Jaya was the face
of the party, you have no reason to feel shocked or disillusioned at Sasikala's
elevation. You people were completely responsible for this sad state of TN
politics. All these days you people kept voting for the Mafia directly whose
nominal head was Jaya. In other words, for every cent that the Mafia earned
under ADMK rule, Jaya bestowed the much required legitimacy and you people were
approving it through the ballot each and every time.
Or
if you weren't following TN Politics properly but kept voting for ADMK
innocuously, it is another kind of a crime you people could not help committing
on your fellowmen. Following politics is as important as casting your vote. If
you are entrusted with a right, make sure you are worthy of it.
If
Sasi could summon all the MLAs on a single night before Jaya's death and make
them sign blank sheets of paper so that they don't switch allegiances, imagine
how much effort she had put in getting them elected as MLAs.
Please
remember that our country is a Democratic Republic where only parties contest
each other in the elections and not individual leaders. Ours is not a
Presidential form of Government like the U.S where you vote for your leader
directly. Hence, it is perfectly fine if the majority of the legislators whom
you voted for, choose someone as their leader and anoint them as the Head of
the Government. Manmohan Singh never contested any elections in his lifetime
and served as PM for nearly a decade. Please remember that Pugazhendi in Mudhalvan
became one-day CM without contesting any elections. If all this is fine, then
Sasikala's case shouldn't trouble you at all.
There
is only one solution to this. Let us first try to come out of our 'Masala Movie
Mindset'. No single Sivaji or Anniyan or Ramana is going to save us from
exploitation and poverty. Even if someone like that emerges on top, he will be
eliminated immediately by the all-powerful System before he tries to move a stone.
John F Kennedy, the youngest President of the US was assassinated by the CIA
and the all powerful Military- Industrial lobby when he tried to alter the
country's questionable foreign policy. Same happened to Martin Luther King.
Hating
a party but loving it's leader is fine as long as your preferences don't
translate into votes. If you vote for Modi, you are actually voting for the BJP
whose primary ideology is Hindu nationalism. If you vote for Sitaram Yechury,
you are voting for the Communist party whose ideology is Socialism. Vote for
Yechury only if you want socialism. Not because he is individually clean or
speaks well in public meetings. Same applies to your Narendra Modi.
Before
you cast your vote, please go through a party's history and it's positions on
various important issues. Records of individual leaders come secondary.
Nothing
destroys our country more than our apathy towards politics. Our grandfathers
evinced so much interest in politics and took an active part in them that they
won us freedom from colonialism. Our fathers too were sufficiently interested in
politics that they ended up having good leaders like Anna and Kamaraj. Now look
at us. Just try to examine the relationship between our declining interest in
politics versus declining quality of our leaders. We were once ruled by a
freedom fighter, then by an outstanding scholar. The quality began to decline
when we voted a cinema-writer to power. He soon gave way to a cinema actor,
then to a dancer-cum-actress and now..