J. Jayalalithaa

From Free net encyclopedia

Template:Cleanup-date Image:J Jayalalithaa.jpg

Dr Jayalalithaa Jayaram (born February 24, 1948, Mysore) is the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, India (since March 2, 2002). She is also the general secretary of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (a regional party in the state). Currently in her second term, she is popularly called Amma (mother) or sometimes Puratchi Thalaivi (Revolutionary Leader) by her followers.

She was born in Mysore to actress Sandhya as Komalavalli. Prior to her venture into politics, she had a successful career in the Tamil film industry as an actress. Chinnada Gombe, her first film (in Kannada) was a major hit. Her first Telugu film Manushulu Mamathalu made her a superstar. In 1972, she was honored by the Tamil Nadu government with the award Kalaimamani.

1 Entry into politics
2 Influence
3 Allegations of oppressive Style of Governance
4 Corruption Charges
5 Resignation and Re-appointment
6 Allegations of Extravagant Lifestyle
7 Awards and Degrees
8 Conspiracy theories
9 External links

[edit]

Entry into politics

In 1981, she joined the AIADMK and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1984 marking her entry into the Parliament of India. Her association with politics grew from her relationship with M. G. Ramachandran, movie star and then Chief Minister. On M.G R's death, she was alienated by a faction of the party who chose to support M.G R's wife Janaki Ramachandran. Drawing on her massive popularity and her image as the "wronged woman", in 1989, she was elected to the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly—-incidentally, she became the first woman to be elected Leader of the Opposition. She accused that the then ruling party, the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam - Dravidian People's Party), tried to assault her in the assembly, and there, she reportedly took an oath to enter the assembly house only as chief minister. In 1991, following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, just days before the elections, her alliance with Indian National Congress paid off as a sympathy wave propelled the coalition to a massive victory. She was re-elected to the legislative assembly and became the first elected woman chief minister of Tamil Nadu (Janaki Ramachandran was the first woman caretaker CM) serving the full tenure (June 24, 1991 - May 12, 1996). However, due to an anti-incumbency wave, and several allegations of corruption and malfeasance against her and her ministers, she lost power to the DMK in 1996, in a landslide defeat. All the ministers in her erstwhile cabinet, including her were defeated in the elections and six of them even lost their deposits, indicating that they did not even secure the minimum number of votes expected of them. She returned to power with a huge majority in the 2001 elections, having mustered a bigger coalition and defying many pre-poll predictions.

During the years out of power, she had to face a number of court cases related to her first term rule. She faced all of them and as a result of the court cases, she could not contest the 2001 elections and became the Chief Minister as a non-elected member of assembly. However she was forced to step down when the Supreme Court ruled that persons facing criminal cases can not become the chief minister. She returned as the Chief Minister again after clearing her name in the specific case. She still faces a couple of cases in the courts in neighbouring Karnataka state.

[edit]

Influence

In the era of coalition politics she wields influence with the central governments and has been a part of both the ruling and opposition alliance at some point of time. She was instrumental in toppling the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1998, though it seemed to backfire on her as she lost the following parliamentary elections. Her political fortunes seem to have taken a downswing in the 2004 elections where her party was virtually wiped out in elections to the national parliament.

[edit]

Allegations of oppressive Style of Governance

Her detractors consider that her style of Governance as oppressive and point out to the following

1. She has a record of dismissing nearly 1,70,000 Government Employees in one stroke for going on strike protesting against her cutting off some of their pension benefits [she maintains that she had to resort to this, in order to strengthen the financial postion of the Government]. The employees made appeals to the High Court and later to the Supreme Court of India, which court upheld the legal right of the Government to dismiss, but ordered the constitution of a three member Committee of High Court Judges to consider the appeals of the employees on individual basis. After a detailed and prolonged hearings lasting over six months the Judges’ Committee ordered reinstatement of all but a little less than 4,000 employees, and minor punishment to about 6,000 employees. Later, after her party suffered defeat in the National elections in May 2004, she reversed the decisions and reinstated all the dismissed employees and withdrew the penalties imposed, despite the Committee of Judges’ findings. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

2. Some people express doubts over the genuineness of the cases filed during her Chief Ministership accusing the possession of Narcotics filed against her detractors like, Muthu (MGR’s car driver), VN.Sudhakaran (her estranged foster-son)[9], P.K.Salahuddin and P.K.Moinuddin ( both reportedly friends of VN.Sudhakaran), Sherija Banu (reportedly a friend of the husband of Sasikala) and Kumar (nephew of Justice A.R.Lakshmanan) [10] [11]

3. Chandralekha, then an IAS officer and Chairperson of state owned Industrial Development Corporation was attacked on the road and acid was thrown at her face. She alleged that it was because she refused to toe Jayalalithaa's line in disinvestment in SPIC, a joint sector company. An accused in the acid attack case, Surla, alleged that he did it under instance of Jayalalithaa and her friend Sasikala. Later he died while in prison due to AIDS. [12]

4. R.Shanmugha Sundaram, a rival DMK party affiliated advocate was grievously injured in an attack with deadly weapons by a gang of goons led by notorious rowdy “Welding” Kumar in his house on May30, 1995 while he was preparing a petition to be filed in the high court on behalf of another DMK advocate Alandur Bharathi against the purchase of Tansi land by then chief minister J Jayalalitha and her close aide Sasikala Natarajan. The prime land in Guindy in Chennai was purchased by Jaya Publications in which Ms Jayalalitha and Mrs Natarajan were partners." The incident happend when Jayalalithaa was the Chief Minister during 1991-1996. [13]

5. She has the record of having filed, using the official position and from the Government funds, the maximum number of defamation suits against the opposition leaders, Newspaper Managements, their editors and journalists. [14]

6. The Supreme Court of India noted that the State Government machinery under her Chief Minister-ship has been misused in the arresting and attempting to somehow or other convict the Shankaracharya Sri Jayendra Saraswati. [15]

7. The midnight arrest and the alleged manhandling of Opposition Leader Karunanithi, Union Ministers Murasoli Maran and T.R.Balu raised criticism though she justified them. This arrest episode contains the transfer of the three high level police officers by the Central Government and the death of 5 DMK party men in violence let loose on their protest procession allegedly by the hooligans supported by police. [16]

[edit]

Corruption Charges

She has been accused and charged with corruption charges in several cases. The Supreme Court of India transferred the disproportionate wealth case against her from of Tamilnadu to Bangalore Court in neighbouring Karnataka as it felt that "public confidence in the fairness of trial was being seriously undermined and great prejudice appeared to have been caused to the prosecution which could culminate in miscarriage of justice." [17][18][19]

Though not convicted, strictures were passed against her by the Supreme Court of India in the TANSI case where she was asked to "atone" by "answering her conscience." She gave an undertaking before the Supreme Court that she would return the Government land to the Government in the year 2002 itself, and the Supreme Court recorded it in its order. [20]. As of November 2005 she has not returned the property.

Many cases were registered against her for corruption, disproportionate wealth, income tax evasion and the like. She has been cleared in most of them, by benefit of doubt in some and with strictures in some like the TANSI land case. [21]

[edit]

Resignation and Re-appointment

On September 21, 2001^[22], a five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court of India ruled in a unanimous verdict that "a person who is convicted for a criminal offence and sentenced to imprisonment for a period of not less than two years cannot be appointed the Chief Minister of a State under Article 164 (1) read with (4) and cannot continue to function as such". Thereby, the bench decided that "in the appointment of Ms. Jayalalithaa as Chief Minister there has been a clear infringement of a Constitutional provision and that a writ of quo warranto must issue". In effect her appointment as Chief Minister was declared null and invalid. Therefore, technically, she was not the Chief Minister in the period between May 14, 2001 and September 21, 2001. [23].

In line with the supreme court ruling she stepped down as the chief minister and O Panneerselvam a junior minister of her party was sworn in as the new chief minister. Her opponents called Mr. panneerselvam a "puppet". In the later days the court passed an order allowing her to return to her post.

[edit]

Allegations of Extravagant Lifestyle

Her detractors point out to the marriage of her adopted son as an example of her extravagant show of her wealth; the marriage entered the Guinness Book of Records as the largest wedding lunch. She was often compared by her opponents to Imelda Marcos during her first reign. TIME magazine remarked on this particular occasion as "a vulgar display of wealth". Media evidence showed vast quantities of footwear and empty suitcases in her possession soon after she fell from power in 1996. She had purchased or built many houses during her first regime between 1991 and 1996. [24]

She also owns a huge collection of jewels which were recently the subject of income tax scrutiny as she was suspected of tax evasion (the gold jewellery was supposedly brought with "black money"). In the Court proceedings in the disproportionate wealth case, she gave a testimony under oath that the jewellery was gifted to her mother Sandhya by the Maharaja of Mysore out of love and affection.

[edit]