Tamil Nadu enters a new phase of governance with O. Panneerselvam being sworn in as head of the government under exceptional circumstances following the conviction of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in a disproportionate assets case. Other than the changes necessitated by the absence of Ms. Jayalalithaa, his Cabinet is essentially the same with the Ministers retaining the portfolios they held previously. Policies and programmes will likewise see continuity, and the government will largely be run in the name of Ms. Jayalalithaa by Mr. Panneerselvam. But the very fact that real power is no longer with the Chief Minister, but with a person convicted in a corruption case, could have a telling effect on the way the government is run. And if Ms. Jayalalithaa remains in prison for some length of time, matters will be more complicated for Mr. Panneerselvam and his government. Important issues will likely be referred to her, and she will, in effect, emerge as an extra-constitutional authority running the government via remote control. Not surprisingly, Mr. Panneerselvam, who had served as Chief Minister for over five months in 2001-02 after the Supreme Court quashed Ms. Jayalalithaa’s appointment as Chief Minister, was chosen more for his loyalty than for his administrative acumen or seniority in the party hierarchy. During his previous stint, Ms. Jayalalithaa, who was acquitted in the Tansi land deal case (that led to her electoral disqualification) a couple of months after she was forced to demit office, was available for constant consultations. If Ms. Jayalalithaa is not out of prison soon enough, Mr. Panneerselvam will verily be clueless when confronted with politically sensitive issues.
How quickly the judicial process decides on the issues of suspension of sentence or stay of the conviction itself will be critical and Mr. Panneerselvam’s second term could well last longer than his first. The very structure of the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam does not allow for a strong second line of leadership, and the party and the government will necessarily look up to Ms. Jayalalithaa for guidance. If governance is not to suffer, Ms. Jayalalithaa will have to find a way where her advisory role could take on an official status. In the unusual circumstances in the State, remote control without a formal role will affect the administration of the State. In the last few days since the conviction, many of the Ministers have spent more time in Bangalore than in their own offices. What Ms. Jayalalithaa needs now is legal help, not political support, which she has in plenty, going by the recent Lok Sabha election results. The Ministers would serve her cause better by concentrating on governance than in organising political protests.