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Advantage Jayalalithaa

If revenge is a dish best tasted cold, then Jayalalithaa is licking her lips at the sound of the dinner-bell. And she must have built up quite an appetite in the three years or more that she has been waiting...

The story begins in the winter of 1997-1998, shortly after the Congress (I) pulled down the Gujral ministry. (Does anyone remember why?) Jayalalithaa stunned everyone by choosing to forge an electoral alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party instead of the AIADMK's traditional ally, the Congress (I). Taking no chances, she brought several smaller groups into the front, notably Vaiko's MDMK and Dr Ramadoss's PMK. Virtually unknown outside Tamil Nadu -- and not particularly famous even in the state -- these parties suddenly found themselves sitting at the Cabinet table in Delhi.

The honeymoon was over a little over a year later. When Jayalalithaa withdrew support from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee ministry, Vaiko and Dr Ramadoss continued to back the prime minister. Settling scores with them was always on Jayalalithaa's list, and she had done it brilliantly.

But that was a minor matter compared to the AIADMK chief's feelings toward the Congress (I). I think the emotion is best summed up in a senior AIADMK functionary's own words:

"Sonia Gandhi treated us as if she were a zamindar and we were the peasants working her land. We had to plough the land, sow the seed, reap the crop, and even carry it to the granary. But then she drove us with harsh words when we went to ask for our wages. And because we were untouchables there was no justice for us!"

The reference is to the manner in which the Congress (I) used Jayalalithaa in 1999. We will probably never know all the negotiations that went into that famous tea party hosted by Subramanian Swamy where Sonia Gandhi famously rubbed shoulders with Jayalalithaa. But it was implicitly understood that the AIADMK would not suffer if the Congress (I) came to power. It was with this assurance that the AIADMK backed out of the Vajpayee ministry. But then a jubilant Sonia Gandhi told Jayalalithaa, "We shall form a government on our own, and you shall not have any part in it!"

There was little that Jayalalithaa could do about it at that point. (She did, however, seize the opportunity to stand Sonia Gandhi up when they were supposed to speak at a rally in Villupuram. The Congress president cooled her heels for an hour before being informed that her AIADMK counterpart could not make it as a "sea of humanity" was holding her up.) But it was only a matter of time before open hostilities broke out after Jayalalithaa became chief minister for the second time.

The last straw was probably the merger of the Tamil Maanila Congress and the parent Congress (I). The former had been created entirely because a section of Congressmen in Tamil Nadu hated Jayalalithaa. Sonia Gandhi made it clear that their feelings would be respected after they rejoined. In fact, she went so far as to use the Tamil Maanila Congress war-cry of 'restoring Kamaraj rule in Tamil Nadu.' This was interpreted, correctly I think, as a declaration of intent to force the AIADMK out of power.

"She came to Chennai and vowed to restore Congress rule, did she?" is the AIADMK attitude, "Well, let us see who rules in Delhi." And thus came the famous bombshell about Sonia Gandhi's citizenship.

It was a brilliant tactic by the Tamil Nadu chief minister. The Congress (I) erupted in fury, giving the issue far greater publicity than anyone could have foreseen. But there was an element of luck in it too. For instance, S M Krishna, the chief minister of Karnataka, was drawn into an unwise comparison of Jayalalithaa's own roots. She was, he suggested, feeling shaky as her family hailed from Bangalore.

This was unwise. Bangalore is part of India as Turin (or Milan, or whichever part of Italy the Mainos were born) never has been. Jayalalithaa hit back by accusing Karnataka of paying several crores to Veerappan when he kidnapped Rajakumar two years ago. (What she did not add is that the LTTE received a large inflow of cash immediately afterwards. Just a coincidence? I think not.) And whatever little effect S M Krishna might have had were negated by the Supreme Court ordering Karnataka to release water from the Cauvery!

Quite plainly, the AIADMK leader has hit a nerve. How will she follow up the initial attack? Maybe by questioning Sonia Gandhi's other abilities?

"Her only qualification is a marriage license!" was Jayalalithaa's terse dismissal of the Congress (I) president's skills. She may be right. For instance, there is a curious silence about La Gandhi's educational background. We all know the tales of how she met Rajiv Gandhi in Cambridge. But which college had the honour of teaching her, pray tell?

Jayalalithaa also dismissed the claim that Sonia Gandhi became an Indian after marrying Rajiv Gandhi. She applied for citizenship as late as 1982 -- and that, as Jayalalithaa pointed out, only after the courts admitted a petition asking that all "foreigners" be removed from the prime minister's home!

The Tamil Nadu chief minister has chosen her issues with immense care. It is impossible for anyone to back Vaiko's support for Eelam, or Dr Ramadoss's claim for a Vanniyar-dominated state carved out of Tamil Nadu. She has pushed everyone on the back-foot thanks to the Supreme Court ruling on the Cauvery. She has made the running on the Veerappan issue. And it is certainly not possible for the Bharatiya Janata Party to oppose her on the question of Sonia Gandhi's Italian roots!

These are only the opening moves in a long game with the Congress (I). But J Jayalalithaa has certainly seized the early advantage.

T V R Shenoy