Jayalalithaa springs into action over Cricket

For the second time in as many weeks, politicians from Tamil Nadu continue to make news in Sri Lanka. After Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Muthuvel Karunanidhi withdrew his support to the ruling party last week, it was Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram’s turn this week.

Perhaps realising that Karunanidhi, her arch political rival in the South Indian state, was scoring brownie points with voters with his gung-ho statements against the central government in New Delhi, Jayalalithaa sprang into action this week on an issue that is followed passionately in India: Cricket.

The Chief Minister on Tuesday declared that the state government will permit games of the popular Indian Premier League (IPL) to be played in Tamil Nadu only if tournament organisers assured that no Sri Lankan players, umpires, officials or support staff will participate.

This, Jayalalithaa said, was because “of the antipathy and anger in Tamil Nadu against the actions of the Government of Sri Lanka”, and warned that if Sri Lankans were to play in Tamil Nadu it would “aggravate an already surcharged atmosphere and further offend the sentiments of the people”.

Tamil Nadu is home to a leading team in the IPL, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), twice champions in the tournament. CSK has always attracted Sri Lankan talent and two Lankan cricketers, Nuwan Kulasekera and Akhila Dhananjaya, were selected to play for them this year.

This type of political gamesmanship is nothing new to Jayalalithaa Jayaram, the Iron Lady of Tamil Nadu politics for the past twenty five years. It has been the hallmark of a political career that saw her reach the heights of becoming Chief Minister as well as suffer the ignominy of almost being jailed.

The sixty-five-year old matriarch however first caught the eye of the public not as a politician but as a film actress. The then lissome actress began her movie career at the young age of fifteen. By the time she was in her early twenties, she had established herself as a leading actress in Tamil movies. This meant she was cast opposite star actors of the time, Sivaji Ganesan and

M. G. Ramachandran. It was her association with the latter that led her to take to politics in the early ‘80s, joining his All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). She was soon appointed as its propaganda secretary. In 1984, when Ramachandran fell seriously ill following a stroke, Jayalalithaa attempted to take over the position of Chief Minister. Ramachandran retaliated by removing her from her then position of deputy leader of the party.

Ramachandran died in 1987 and a tussle ensued between his widow, Janaki Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa for the leadership. This split the AIADMK into two factions. Janaki Ramachandran went on to become Chief Minister but her government lasted only 24 days, being dismissed by New Delhi.

As the Janaki Ramachandran faction was defeated at the next elections in 1989, she retired from politics, paving the way for the reunification of the AIADMK, with Jayalalithaa becoming the undisputed leader, a position she retains to this day nearly twenty five years later. Jayalalithaa was seen merely as a puppet of M.G. Ramachandran early in her political career. In response, she once said “MGR has been a great influence in my life, I don’t deny that. But now I am my own person. I have evolved. Hereafter, I am responsible only for myself”.

After assuming the leadership of the AIADMK, Jayalalithaa’s rise to the top was rapid. Serving briefly as Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu State assembly, she became Chief Minister of the state for the first time in 1991.

Five years later, in the topsy-turvy world of Tamil Nadu politics, Jayalalithaa found herself out of office and charged and found guilty of a series of criminal offences including misappropriation of state property. A five-year jail sentence was imminent.

However, following a plethora of legal battles, Jayalalithaa was acquitted of the charges against her. She then manipulated a series of political moves that returned her to the state assembly and by 2002, she was sworn in as Chief Minister for a second time. She was to lose her position after one term in office, but she bounced back to become Chief Minister for a third time in May 2011, in a  campaign that included a wave of sympathy for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which had been decimated by the Sri Lankan armed forces in 2009.

Jayalalithaa, like her political nemesis Karunanidhi, has time and again expressed sympathy with the Tamil separatist cause in Sri Lanka. She has openly declared her support for the LTTE on numerous occasions and has continued to do so even after the Tigers were listed as a terrorist organisation.

She is also known as a drama queen in state politics often making theatrical declarations and staging spectacular protests to whip up communal sentiment. Recently, Jayalalithaa has been writing to the central government in New Delhi, suggesting that it should deal more sternly with Colombo. Playing the Sri Lanka card at politically opportune moments has always been a pet ploy employed by Jayalalithaa. Previously she has barred several Sri Lankan sporting teams from playing in Tamil Nadu. Her latest declarations on the IPL therefore come as no surprise. A few months ago, when Jayalalithaa engaged in a bout of Sri Lankan bashing, the Sri Lankan government extended a public invitation to her to visit the country and observe for herself the progress made with regard to rehabilitation in the North and East. She did not take up the offer.

Jayalalithaa however remains a formidable presence across the Palk Straits. Recently, Hillary Clinton, then the United States Secretary of State, stopped over in Chennai to call on Jayalalithaa, in an indication of the influence she wields.

For Sri Lanka though, Jayalalithaa Jayaram will continue to be a constant irritant. That is because the nature of Tamil Nadu politics is such that Jayalalithaa will need to whip up communal sentiments to retain power in her state-and the Sri Lankan issue is the easiest way of doing that.