With V.K. Sasikala’s formal ascension as general secretary of the ruling AIADMK, O Panneerselvam is no longer being identified as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in publicity material put up by the party and its functionaries. He is either being identified as the Finance Minister, a portfolio he holds in addition to his responsibilities as the Chief Minister, or as the AIADMK treasurer.
In fact, Mr. Panneerselvam himself in an advertisement issued by him preferred to highlight his organisational post, something he had done when he stepped into late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s shoes during 2001-02 and 2014-15.
Curiously, on Friday when Ms. Sasikala went to pay homage at the MGR-Jayalalithaa memorial, a party press release made no mention of the presence of the Chief Minister on the occasion. It merely said that AIADMK functionaries, Ministers, MLAs and MPs were present.
Seen in the backdrop of the open demand by many Ministers that Ms. Sasikala should takeover as Chief Minister, observers feel it would be only a matter of time before Mr. Panneerselvam is replaced from the top job. In the history of Dravidian parties, successive Chief Ministers since C. N. Annadurai have also held the reins of the party. Though MGR had appointed three other leaders general secretary of the AIADMK during various periods, he retained all the organisational powers.
Dual power centre
Former Minister Gokula Indira, says, “The Ministers have enormous respect for Mr. Panneerselvam. But as leaders and office-bearers of various party wings, we are expressing the sentiments of party cadre that Chinnammma (Sasikala) should become the Chief Minister. This is unanimous opinion in her favour.”
AIADMK’s South Chennai (North) district secretary V.P. Kalairajan argues that this would be in the best of interests of the AIADMK. “Dual power centres will create a controversy that the party leader is pulling the strings from behind the scene and running the government. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi faced a similar allegation when Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot escape the criticism that the RSS is controlling his government,” he contends.
As political parties depend on the charisma of a leader to sustain themselves, the cadre are unlikely to reconcile themselves to the idea of the leader staying away from power.
“How do you expect the arrangement of dual power centre to work in the AIADMK when it does not work in other parties? The leadership is too insecure to share power with anyone else. Even father and son could not run the show smoothly in Uttar Pradesh,” points out A.R. Venkatchalapathy, Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS).
Even during Jawaharlal Nehru’s time, Purushottam Das Tandon, who was the Congress president, had to step down, as a difference of opinion between him and the Prime Minister affected the government. “The Congress gave space for a person other than the Prime Minister to enjoy the leadership of the party till Indira Gandhi occupied both the posts in 1980. The identity of a leader is more important in today’s politics,” says former Union Minister and AIADMK MP S.R. Balasubramoniyan.
R. Kannan, whose biography of AIADMK founder MGR is on the anvil, however, says it was not even clear if the party cadre had accepted Ms. Sasikala as the general secretary, let alone as putative Chief Minister.
“Only an electoral victory under her leadership will give Ms. Sasikala any credibility,” he concludes.
