O. Panneerselvam , leader of the AIADMK Puratchi Thalaivi Amma, is the man of the moment, with all eyes on the by-election in Chennai’s R.K. Nagar constituency on April 12. With hopes soaring that his party may secure a favourable outcome in this election, Mr. Panneerselvam has his gaze fixed as firmly on the needs of Tamil Nadu as the legacy of his political forbears. He outlined his vision in a conversation with Narayan Lakshman. Here is the edited excerpts:
What are your party’s principles to win the by-election in RK Nagar?
The AIADMK was founded by M.G. Ramachandran and he conducted it as a people’s movement. After his passing away, Puratchi Thalaivi Jayalalithaa also as the general secretary was running this movement for 29 years, fighting out all the opposition that came along the way, fought and won, made this movement a strong one, made it strong as a people’s movement. Amma took the responsibility for 16-17 years. Whatever the people needed, she fulfilled all of that, made it a people’s government. She ran the government as a democracy.
Whatever those two great leaders practiced is the principle of the AIADMK government. We are also doing the same now, that this should be a people’s movement and people’s rule. The government should not be under the rule and control of one family. We are speaking of the same principles in R.K. Nagar.
Doesn’t the freezing of the Two Leaves symbol by the Election Commission challenge your claim to be the political heir of Jayalalithaa?
When Amma was alive and she faced trouble, she made me the Chief Minister twice and asked me to look after the governance of the State. Between the first time in 2001 and the second time in 2014, for 13 years I was serving Amma. I was doing only whatever Amma told me to do. After Amma’s death a strange circumstance developed wherein a member of one family was making covert efforts to become the general secretary and also the Chief Minister. Puratchi Thalaivar MGR had made the AIADMK a people’s movement and Puratchi Thalaivi Jayalalithaa also followed the same path laid out by him. Basically all of us must be united in this cause, and that is why I started this dharma yuddham .
The unusual circumstance developed where 122 Members of Legislative Assembly are on the other side, and this is only temporary. Eventually, I firmly believe that they will listen to their conscience and take a good decision after the R.K. Nagar election. If that family was not within both the party and the government I believe that we would all be united. They did not take the necessary steps for this to happen. Due to this unusual circumstance the party got split into two. So that family is responsible for the freezing of the two-leaf symbol, and I am not responsible for this. If they had done what I had said, the symbol would have still been with us.
Will you accept the election outcome as a measure of public opinion across the State?
In R.K. Nagar by-election it appears that the ministers and MLAs are on one side and the people are on the other. The people are giving us full support.
Madhusudhanan has already been well-acquainted with that constituency and knows the problems and difficulties of the people. He has been with them for 50-60 years. He knows their needs and problems and has put himself forward for rectifying those. As an MLA and, earlier, as a Member of Legislative Council, and even as a Minister once under Amma’s rule, he has done developmental work throughout the constituency. Wherever we meet the people, can see their contentment about his [Mr. Madhusudhanan’s] work. We can see that he will get a tremendous victory, seeing the enthusiasm of the people.
Are there any circumstances in the future under which your faction and the Edappadi Palaniswami faction might join together?
The opportunity for our two factions to come together is this: The principle of the AIADMK that Puratchi Thalaivar MGR founded and Puratchi Thalaivi Jayalalithaa developed is that the movement must be a people’s movement. The movement should belong to the party workers. They never approved of the party being in the hands of a family. As you know Puratchi Thalaivar MGR did not allow his brother or his wife Janaki Ramachandran to enter into party work. Similarly Puratchi Thalaivi Jayalalithaa also did not allow Sasikala or her family members to interfere in the party work or give them government positions. She [Jayalalithaa] only allowed Sasikala to be her helper at her home. It was Amma’s decision not to allow allow any other member of the family. Whoever believed in this, we were firmly committed to working with them.
If the Election Commission rules against the validity of the election of Sasikala as general secretary what implications will that have for the AIADMK?
As per the rules of the party the General Secretary must be elected by the workers of the party. Sasikala was not elected as per this rule. In the unusual circumstance of that position being empty, the rules of the party say that the next in command will take that responsibility. That person must also be elected by the workers of the party. The temporary election for this position is not in accordance with the rules of the party. So the way she has taken the General Secretary position is not correct, it is contrary to the rules of the party. She has no authority to allocate positions within the party, including positions allocated by Amma.
Is there any other way for the Edappadi Palaniswami’s faction to break free of the Sasikala family’s influence?
Surely if they escape, it is beneficial for him [Mr. Palaniswami], for the party, for Tamil Nadu, and for the government. If his [Mr. Palaniswami’s] conscience works he will escape.
How would you characterise your relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi? Do you see AIADMK coming together in an alliance with the BJP?
Our stand is the same as the principles on which Amma ran the party and the government. There is no change in that. We will always be the protectors of the minority community. There can be no doubt about that. They are all citizens of India. India is a secular nation. We will be firm in our principles.
I have met him [Mr. Modi] many times along with Amma. I went in January too. When he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat I have met him several times in Delhi. He would just say “Hello.” When I met him alone he would ask how Amma was, and I would tell him she is doing well. That is all my dealings with him were. Regarding the Jallikattu protest I had to meet him face to face. Before that, as I took over as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, I had to meet him to make petitions on economic policies and also met him regarding drought relief. The jallikattu protest became huge in Tamil Nadu. Youngsters and students joined this protest. To bring it to a conclusion I had to meet him [Mr. Modi] again. He said that per our laws, the Supreme Court has issued a stay and because the case is in progress in the Supreme Court we cannot take any decisions now. Since the prohibited animal are on the concurrent list both the Central and State governments can issue an order. The State government can bring an amendment to the law and the Central Government must approve it. You bring an amendment and we will help you by giving the approval. On that basis we brought out an ordinance at once. Then, by the correct procedure, it was passed in the State Assembly. To bring this to a conclusion I met with him [Mr. Modi]. We did not talk about party principles.
Development of Tamil Nadu
How, if you had the opportunity, would you make Tamil Nadu a more industry-friendly State?
Whatever government comes to power should be a corruption free government. Only then can we develop long-term economic growth. When industries develop, through that tax revenue increases.
Sixty—five percent of the people of Tamil Nadu are engaged in agriculture. For the work, whatever is needed by way of economic planning for all the strata of agricultural workers, through the government, by their policies, we can increase agricultural production, we can bring about significant growth, and we can increase the state’s food production. 65% of the people will be assured of their livelihood. Food production will go up. Throughout the year agricultural labourers will have opportunities to work. Puratchi Thalaivi Amma put away one fourth of the state’s annual income for the development of education. Through that we have for the past five years given students 16 types of educational materials for free, and this way we have encouraged the students of primary, secondary, middle and higher schools. Enrollment rates have gone up appreciably in Tamil Nadu. The number of educated graduates and technical graduates has increased. Through the 65 colleges, including arts and sciences colleges, engineering colleges, agricultural colleges, fisheries colleges, and fisheries universities, Puratchi Thalaivi Amma has made a significant contribution to the educational field. Because of this, students have a congenial atmosphere to get educated. For graduates to get jobs, Amma has made additional efforts for skill development and students have qualified for good jobs. When this happened, all levels of development there stimulus for economic development. But our economic situation is dependent on the general Indian economic condition, because we are a State of India. Because of events in other places there can be fluctuations but we have to manage them.
You have proposed two ideas: an inquiry into the circumstances of Jayalalithaa’s death and to make Veda Nilayam a public memorial. Will you continue to fight for these?
Surely. As soon as we assume power we will institute an inquiry commission to remove the suspicions regarding Amma’s death. To cherish the memory of Amma, Veda Nilayam, the place where she lived will be made into a memorial, where all the vehicles and things she used will be displayed for the general public to see. In every district of Tamil Nadu we will have a statue of Amma.
Deepa Jayakumar has made a statement on holding inquiry against you regarding Ms. Jayalalithaa’s death – what is your response to that?
I myself have asked for an inquiry commission, there is no need for an answer for this question. [Laughs]
On September 26 and 27, 2016 a meeting was held in Apollo Hospitals on the Cauvery issue, which was attended by Ms. Jayalalithaa. Did you ask the attending officials about her health at the time?
That meeting happened over two or three days. There were officials who met Amma at that meeting but I did not participate. After that, I spoke to those officials and they said that “Amma only dictated.” I can only say what the officials told me. The very next day Amma became unconscious, that is the information we got.
I went there every day for 25 days, but I did not see her. One day they would say she was well, the next day they would say she was unwell, what do we know, we are not doctors. We could not ask about what medicines were given to her because we have no medical knowledge. So we would only listen to what they had to say. We had to trust what they said. I felt that over 75 days I could not save Amma. I proposed several times that we could take her to Singapore or the U.S. for medical treatment.
DMK Acting President M.K. Stalin has made allegations about you relating to arrested sand mining baron Sekhar Reddy, how do you answer these?
There is not a grain of truth in what Stalin has said. I have no connection with Sekhar Reddy.
There are questions about the posting given to Rama Mohan Rao after the Income Tax raids, why was he permitted to continue in a senior official capacity?
The Income Tax raid did happen. We did not get any information from the Income Tax department that he committed any crime. Therefore there was no need to terminate his job. There is no basis in law to remove an IAS officer without any strong reason.
