How OPS stood up to Sasikala and changed the Tamil Nadu narrative
After a night of an explosive turnaround in Tamil politics, when the "standby" finally decided to stand up and speak up, even the morning after is full of surprises and revelations. After the volte-face that has got Tamil Nadu erupt in joy and take to the streets again, the chief minister and long-time Jayalalithaa loyalist, O Panneerselvam, seized the day once again.
On the night of Tuesday, February 7, at around 9 pm, OPS "meditated" at Jaya memorial for almost 40 minutes before he addressed the media. He said he had always put Jaya and Tamil politics before him, but now he had been forced to resign against his wishes. He implied that Sasikala, who had snatched away the top post from him, as the leader of the AIADMK legislature party and then the CM-designate, had been conniving behind his back and that he was not privy to the decisions made.
The resentment that OPS felt had strong echoes in the ground, as the youth of Tamil Nadu felt equally let down by the goings-on and Sasikala officially taking over the reins of Tamil Nadu. There were rap songs of protest; social media was flooded with angry messages from youngsters, students, professionals who had a week earlier expressed their political angst over the Jallikattu agitation.
Sasikala - the face of the "Mannargudi Mafia" - had never cultivated the ground-level support that Jaya naturally commanded, after years in politics. That OPS had stood by his leader for decades somehow did not go unnoticed by Tamil people, who wanted a bonafide CM who had proved his mettle, not an imposter who ensured her sneaky hold on the bureaucracy and the MLAs through tentacles of corruption and ill-gotten money.
If last night was any indication, the radically different scenes at Poes Garden, currently Sasikala's residence and at OPS' house meant that the people of Tamil Nadu were firmly with him, even though the party MLAs might have slimed their way into Sasikala camp. As she expelled OPS from the party and accused him of conspiring with DMK, saying that MK Stalin and OPS had "smiled" at each other in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, OPS hit back on Twitter saying that only human beings smile at each other.
The "caretaker CM" had to give one strategic speech to tell Tamil Nadu that Sasikala was not happy with how efficiently handled the series of misfortunes befalling his state - from Cyclone Vardah, to Jaya's death, to the Jallikattu uprising and then the Ennore oil spill. Gaining both sympathy from the media as well the general populace, OPS' masterstroke had come later than sooner, but it had been effective.
Of course, there are major speculations that it was the BJP-led Centre, particularly the PM, Narendra Modi, who had made his preference for OPS known in many earlier occasions, though Delhi media never expected OPS to actually take a stand other than stepping down. Hectic parleys between Tamil Nadu governor Vidyasagar Rao and Union minister Rajnath Singh, as well as between DMK's MK Stalin and the PM, have been over this issue, and opposition to the unelected head Sasikala's ascension has only become stronger.
Moreover, Sasikala's corrupt past and the Supreme Court case against her and the departed Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case, which would give its verdict in about a week's time, also means that Tamil Nadu wants to move on and nit be weighed down by the verdict.
In case it goes against Sasikala, she'd have to step down anyway, and her adamance to be sworn in as the CM pretty much emanates from the misguided desperation that being the CM might influence the judges somewhat. However, that's precisely the reason why others do not want Sasikala to assume the role at all, or wait till the verdict is out and the way ahead is clearer.
With the past few months of tumult, Tamil Nadu politics has been mired in a whirlpool of uncertainty. The equations with the Centre, the seats in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha - 50 in all - and the 2019 roadmap are all factors that are influencing the course of its politics. However, the emergence of a bonafide leader who won over the hearts of his people by a single though unexpected act of defiance is something that can only be good news for Tamil Nadu.
Catching everyone off-guard, as we wait with bated breath for his morning press conference and the revelations it would bring in its heels, OPS had ensured that the theatre of Tamil politics has a new director: OPS himself.
Also read: Was Jayalalithaa murdered? Shakespeare in Tamil Nadu