When Jayalalithaa was the Chief Minister, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who was then holding the Highways portfolio in her Cabinet, once gave a response to a query on the delay in payment to government contractors that caught the MLA who asked the question unawares.
“I know the concern of the member because he is also a contractor,” he said and, in the process, exposed the motive of the Opposition member who raised the question — an art mastered by very seasoned politicians. Jayalalithaa was not in the House at the time.
In hindsight, Mr. Palaniswami, now the Chief Minister, had in him a knack for political manoeuvring, but was overshadowed by the presence of a powerful mass leader like Jayalalithaa. Like every other Cabinet colleague of Jayalalithaa, he too was happy to project himself as a mere student who desired to be guided by the teacher, instead of giving the impression that he had a grip on the administration of his departments.
However, after the passing away of Jayalalithaa and the subsequent rebellion by her successor O. Panneerselvam, when opportunities presented themselves before him, Mr. Palaniswami grabbed them tightly and has since begun asserting himself as a leader, both as Chief Minister and co-coordinator of the AIADMK.
The recently concluded Assembly session proved that he had come a long way modelling his style of functioning along the lines of that of Jayalalithaa.
Just as ‘Rule 110’ in the Assembly was a weapon in the hands of Jayalalithaa to lord it over her Cabinet colleagues, Mr. Palaniswami too made several suo motu announcements in the House. [Announcements made under Rule 110 do not entail a debate in the Assembly.] He used the provision to keep for himself the right to make major announcements for all the departments, sometimes the very next day after the demands for grants for a particular department were taken up for debate in the House.
Ministers and MLAs too make it a point now to wax eloquent on his leadership qualities after paying encomium to their late leader Jayalalithaa. Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam is also not an exception. Ministers are vying with each other to find new qualities in him that are worth praising. This was a sight that was all too common when Jayalalithaa was around.
Mr. Palaniswami also never missed an opportunity to target the Opposition. He caused embarrassment to the DMK by recalling the comments made by party legislator Senthil Balaji when he was the Transport Minister in the previous AIADMK government.
The DMK members were up in arms when Transport Minister Vijayabaskar first mentioned the comments. The Chief Minister made the DMK members squirm in their seats, saying, “We are recalling the comments not to criticise you but to tell you about the character of the man who has joined you.”
DMK president and Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin, who came prepared to the House, had to bear with the Chief Minister’s barbs. More often than not, Mr. Stalin had to skip the subject after the Chief Minister gave a reply instead of supplementing his charges against the government. Mr. Palaniswami remained undaunted by the substantial presence of DMK MLAs in the House.
Calling the shots
On Sunday, when DMK Deputy Floor Leader Duraimurugan sought to blame the government for the Cauvery water dispute, Mr. Palaniswami countered: “You cannot suppress the facts by raising your voice.”
As for the AIADMK, his recent choice of low-key nominees to the Rajya Sabha, ignoring the aspirations of and lobbying by senior leaders, sent out a clear message as to who called the shots in the party.
“Mr. Palaniswami has the leadership qualities. His grasp of subjects is amazing. He has scored 100 out of 100 in the political test,” Revenue Minister R.B. Udhayakumar said.
