What is in store for the Tamilnadu Politics for the future is yet to be predicted. Tamil Nadu Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam assumed charge of the ministries which were handled by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa before she was hospitalised.
However, Amma remains the Chief Minister, although the hospital authorities have indicated that there is no immediate possibility of her being released.
Jayalalithaa`s arch-rival, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam`s (DMK) M. Karunanidhi, has taken the opportunity to ask whether the Chief Minister was able to tell the Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao about the allocation of the portfolios, especially when several leaders who went to the hospital were unable to see her.
Subramanian Swamy of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has called for the imposition of President`s rule in Tamil Nadu.
This is however not the first time that the state has been “run” by an absentee Chief Minister. Earlier when Jayalalithaa`s mentor, M.G. Ramachandran, suffered a cerebral stroke a few days after checking into a hospital for breathlessness.
Panneerselvam, too, was an acting Chief Minister in 2001 and 2014 when Jayalalithaa had to step down because of adverse judicial verdicts.
Jayalalithaa took over the AIADMK after the electoral defeat of a faction led by Ramachandran`s widow, Janaki, in 1989 and has been running it as a one-person show since then.
As puratchi thalaivi , she is adored by her followers.Notwithstanding India`s development as a democracy, the party system, which is integral to democratic politics, has fallen prey to feudalism and the personality cult.
Jayalalithaa is an exception in the sense that she doesn`t have a family of her own. Otherwise, the handing over of the baton from one generation to the next has been seen in the Congress, the DMK, the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Biju Janata Dal, the Janata Dal (Secular), the Akali Dal, the National Conference, the Shiv Sena and others.
If Amma had a son or daughter, it would have been a different story.
