A political handshake between the Narendra Modi-led government and Jayalalithaa seems to be in the offing as the latter embarks on a crucial second term as Tamil Nadu chief minister. R Rajagopalan reports.
Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu's presence at the Madras University Centenary Auditorium in Chennai on Monday, where All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo J Jayalalithaa was sworn-in as the chief minister for a second consecutive term, has set off political speculation.
Some believe that Naidu's presence points towards a larger picture -- one that involves the AIADMK's support to key central legislations like the Goods and Services Tax bill and the backing of the party's 47 MPs (in both the Houses of Parliament) and 136 MLAs in the 2017 presidential elections.
Sources told rediff.com that Naidu has got a mandate from the Centre to assure the Tamil Nadu government of all possible help to implement its welfare schemes, including prohibition.
Jayalalithaa, in her second innings as chief minister, would need the Centre's financial help if she has to realise her Vision Document 2023 that seeks to usher in foreign investments and achieve double-digit growth rate by ramping up the textile, agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
Jayalalithaa also has to contend with the fact that unlike her last tenure, the opposition has more numerical strength this time. Which would also be reflected in the election of the Speaker. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has 89 MLAs in the 234-member assembly compared to 23 in 2011, which enables it to be much more than just a pushover. In the past, the presiding officer of the assembly would bundle out the Opposition DMK at the first sign of trouble, since its strength was meager, but now he would have to deal with a much more aggressive, and numerically strong, Opposition. In 2016, the choice of the Speaker becomes that much more difficult.
Related to this is how to prevent the DMK from spreading its wings and growing in the state, which will be at the expense of the AIADMK. And this is where she will need the Centre's help in keeping the DMK top echelons entangled in various legal cases.
In the coming months, Jayalalithaa faces some tense moments.
Come October 2016, the government and the AIADMK will face a performance test in the form of civic polls. Around the same time, the Supreme Court will be delivering the verdict in the disproportionate asset case against her.
Experts believe that the AIADMK supremo will have to change her style of functioning in her second term as chief minister. She may know the pulse of the people but she needs to be more visible, they say.
R Rajagopalan is a senior journalist from New Delhi who has reported on Tamil Nadu politics from 1977.
