Looking at AIADMK now reveals why Jayalalithaa never allowed her ministers to speak
As a journalist, I have been covering and, more importantly, observing the AIADMK since 2005. As a cub reporter I obviously didn't know about anyone in the party other than J Jayalalithaa well.
But over the years, even after understanding the nuances of politics, I still didn't know her cabinet until a few months ago. Of course, I knew O Panneerselvam, but then he would just smile and move away as soon as anyone tried to get his reaction on something. This when Jayalalithaa was alive.
Nevertheless, he has been giving interviews and holding press conferences ever since his famous "meditation at Amma memorial" announcing his decision to part ways with VK Sasikala. But after the merger (of the two factions), he is back on"silent mode".
So, despite covering politics for quite some time, it has always been a challenge to get the hang of Jayalalithaa's cabinet for two reasons:
1. The cabinet kept changing. If I remember right, it was reshuffled more than 14 times in 2014.
2. The ministers never opened their mouth. I don't even remember seeing pictures of them eating in public place, and this is not an exaggeration.
For everyone, the only person who mattered was just Amma. The party hardly had a "structured" spokesperson until the 2016 Assembly elections.
Coming back to the present, I know every minister, not to mention their statements as well as their experiments. It all started after the ministers were given a free-hand following Edappadi Palanisamy ascension as the chief minister (after Sasikala's sentencing and subsequent imprisonment).
Every minister decided to grab the limelight, something that had been denied to them for years. Jayalalithaa had a diktat that except her picture, no one else should be on the posters.
But this is 2017, and every minister has found an eloquence. They start speaking the minute a reporter thrusts a microphone under their nose. D Jayakumar has emerged as the saviour for TV journalists. Ask him anything and he would answer, and we get our "breaking news".
But the "real picture" of the AIADMK cabinet became clearer with the famous experiment conducted by minister Sellur Raju. The cooperatives minister came up with an idea to conserve water and prevent evaporation at Vaigai dam in Madurai in April.
He took a team of journalists and walked, flanked by bureaucrats, proudly to show off his innovation - covering up the entire water surface with thermocol sheets to prevent evaporation. Even as the thermocol sheets were swept away by wind, the minister still gave news bites saying he and his team will look more "deeply" into this experiment and come up with a solution.
This space is not enough to write about the internet memes that Sellur Raju, who is now called "thermocol" minister, generated.
Now, the same minister is giving a competition to his colleague Dindigul Sreenivasan who had said that they (AIADMK leaders) lied about Jayalalithaa's health condition when she was in the hospital.
First, let's see what Dindigul Sreenivasan had to say.
When Jayalalithaa was in hospital since September 22, 2016, until her death, we saw spokespersons and ministers making big statements. Everyday update to all those waiting outside the hospital was that "Amma is in perfect health". "She smiled. she is having normal diet."
Now, with Palanisamy (EPS) and Panneerselvam (OPS) factions merging, they are attacking TTV Dhinakaran on various counts, including the "suspicious death" of Jayalalithaa.
So, Dindigul Sreenivasan came out with probably one of the most hilarious statements, which not only made headlines, but also gave a field day to meme makers.
He said: "We were forced to lie that Amma was eating idli and chutney. We never met her and didn't know anything."
So, imagine the statement these leaders gave when Jayalalithaa was in hospital describing her diet.
Immediately, Sellur Raju retaliated saying they were allowed to meet Jayalalithaa. Although it's a serious political issue in Tamil Nadu now, I can't help but wonder the choice of words by Sreenivasan.
The same minister, Dindigul Sreenivasan, recently embarrassed a famous Carnatic singer at an event in Chennai. On the stage, he described Sudha Raghunathan as a Bharatanatyam dancer and then looked at her and asked, "You are a Bharatanatyam dancer, right?" Then after being corrected, he said: "Oh yes, singer Sudha Raghunathan."
Even as everyone thought this drama was over, education minister KA Sengottaiyan called her "Sudha Raghuman". Followed by Panneerselvam, who called her "Sudha Ranghunathan".
Fortunately except them, everyone in the audience knew that Sudha Raghunathan is an eminent Carnatic singer.
Jayalalithaa, who had enough musical knowledge, would probably have identified every single raga from Sudha Raghunathan's songs.
Anyhow, I was hoping the ministers at least watch movies. But education minister Sengottaiyan called famous actor and director Suhasini Maniratnam "Suhasini Manivasagam" in the same event. And OPS called Usha Uthup "Usha Devi".
Another statement from Tamil Nadu environment minister KC Karuppannan has rather confused the people of Tirupur. Residents were left dumfounded after foam started spilling out of Noyyal river. After surveying the river, environment minister gave a simple answer: "It's because of excessive use of soap by people in the area."
Of course, baffled environmentalists have various theories about the foam from the river.
Going back to my years of interaction with Jayalalithaa, whether during press meets or interviews or during personal interaction, she spoke with data in hand. She was so precise that she would even point out small grammatical errors.
A voracious reader, her angry eyes would burn with anger if any other speaker made a small mistake. It's a different story that the current crop of ministers hardly spoke at the time.
Now I understand why she probably never allowed the ministers to function independently. But then, why did she choose them?
Nevertheless, her ministers are providing comic relief to the otherwise troubled state of Tamil Nadu.